Connection member and mount assembly and production method of the same

ABSTRACT

A connection member can be produced without a via-forming step. The connection member includes an insulating substrate which has an upper surface, a lower surface opposed to the upper surface, and a side surface which connects these surfaces; and at least one wiring which extends from the upper surface to the lower surface through the side surface.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is related to a connection member for connectingcircuit boards, or a circuit board and an electronic component, and amethod for producing the same, and a mount assembly including theconnection member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

When a circuit board having a predetermined electrical circuit isconnected electrically to another circuit board, they are, in general,electrically and mechanically connected by using a stacking connector.The stacking connector is disclosed, for example in Japanese PatentKokai (Laid-Open) Publication No. 8(1996)-228059(A).

Further, a technique for electrically connecting circuit boards using ananisotropic conductive film (ACF) has been developed. Such a techniqueis disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open)Publication No. 5(1993)-174889(A) and Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open)Publication No. 6(1994)-268345(A). Further, as shown in Japanese PatentKokai (Laid-Open) Publication No. 6(1994)-120671(A), there is atechnique which employs solder as a connection member between circuitboards so as to ensure mechanical and electrical connectiontherebetween.

As a connection member, a pressure welding electrical connector isdisclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open) Publication No.2003-197289(A), and a terminal for surface mounting is disclosed inJapanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open) Publication No. 6-111869(A).

Furthermore, as a dimension of an electronic equipment is recentlysmaller and thinner, miniaturization of a semiconductor chip and a finerpitch of electrodes are advanced. Not only a higher technique but also ahigher cost is required for forming on a printed board many lands andwiring patterns which are adapted to each pad of a semiconductor chiphaving a small size and fine pitch. For this reason, a method formounting a semiconductor chip on a mother board as a parent printedboard through an intermediate board which is called an “interposer” hasbeen recently employed widely. This method allows a semiconductor chipto be mounted on a board by an existing mounting technique. As theinterposer, there are a ceramic interposer and a resin substrateinterposer. The ceramic interposer is excellent in terms of thermalconduction, and the resin board interposer has an advantage in terms ofcost. This interposer is also a kind of connection member for connectinga circuit board to another circuit board.

A technique for employing the interposer is disclosed, for example, inJapanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open) Publication Nos. 2002-313984(A),2003-110060, and 2003-100962. A board whose function is the same as thatof the interposer is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Kokai(Laid-Open) Publication Nos. 8(1996)-236654(A), 2000-36648(A) and10(1998)-107398.

Furthermore, a three-dimensional mounting technique is developed forrealizing higher density mounting, by using a module with a built-incomponent. This technique realizes higher density mounting by disposingan electronic component such as an active component (for example, asemiconductor device), and a passive component (for example, acapacitor) within a substrate.

This three-dimensional mounting provides, for example, a module with abuilt-in circuit component as shown in FIG. 67 (see Japanese PatentKokai (Laid-Open) Publication No. 11(1999)-220262(A). A module with abuilt-in circuit component 2000 shown in FIG. 67 consists of a substrate2001 formed by staking insulating substrates 2001 a, 2001 b and 2001 c,wiring patterns 2002 (wiring layers) formed on a principal surface andan inside of the substrate 2001, and a circuit component 2003 locatedwithin the substrate 2001 and connected to the wiring patterns. Thewiring patterns 2002 are electrically connected to a via hole conductor2004. The insulating substrates 2001 a, 2001 b and 2001 c are made of,for example, a mixture of an inorganic filler and a thermosetting resin.

As described above, various connection members have been used. Theconnection members, however, have a problem in that they cannotaccommodate further miniaturization and a much finer pitch of a circuitboard and component. This problem is described below.

When a stacking connector is used, it is necessary to secure a space ona circuit board where the stacking connector is to be disposed. Thisprevents miniaturization of an electronic device. Further, when thecircuit board is a flexible printed board (for example, a polyimideboard) and the stacking connector is attached to this flexible printedboard, a thickness of an electronic device is difficult to be smallbecause the stacking connector itself has a relatively large thickness.Further, Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open) Publication No.8(1996)-228059(A) exemplifies an embodiment wherein a stacking connectoris attached to a rigid circuit board (for example, a conventionalprinted board). Attachment of a rigid stacking connector to a flexiblecircuit board itself is relatively complicated and decreases athroughput of a production process. In addition, there is a limit as toadaptation to a fine pitch which is achieved by a connection techniquewith use of a stacking connector.

On the other hand, a technique with use of an anisotropic conductivefilm (ACF), as disclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open)Publication Nos. 5(1993)-174889(A) and 6(1994)-268345(A) more easilyadapts to a fine pitch as compared with the technique with use of thestacking connector. The anisotropic conductive film, however, isunstable relative to a temperature cycle including a high temperatureand a high humidity depending on a base material, which causes a concernfor a decreased reliability. Further, since the anisotropic conductivefilm has a constitution wherein conductive particles are dispersed in aresin film, a number of the conductive particles should be increased inorder to ensure good conductivity. If the number of the conductiveparticles, however, is too large, a problem as to electrical insulationis caused. As a pitch is finer on a circuit board or a component whichis to be connected by the ACF (anisotropic conductive film), a goodbalance between electrical conductivity and insulation is more difficultto be obtained.

A connection member disclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open)Publication No. 2003-197289(A) includes a foamed member as an element.For this reason, this member is poorly self-sustained and should bedisposed in a positioning guide when it is used, which limits mountingsites of an electronic component and a circuit board, and thereforereduces practicability. A connection member disclosed in Japanese PatentKokai (Laid-Open) Publication No. 6(1994)-111869(A) is used as a surfacemount terminal and therefore its shape and usage pattern are verylimited. Further, Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open) Publication Nos.2003-197289(A) and 6(1994)-111869(A) do not teach a connection memberfor connecting an electronic component itself to a circuit board.

Furthermore, a prior art interposer has a problem described below. In aconventional interposer, electrical conduction between an upper surfaceand a lower surface is ensured by a via which is filled with aconductor. Therefore, it is necessary to form the via upon producing theinterposer. Formation of the via needs a paste-filling step or a platingstep in addition to a boring step for forming a through hole, whichinvolves complications. Further, from a viewpoint of production cost,more resin interposers have been used instead of ceramic interposers.Since miniaturization of a semiconductor device gives rise to increasein calorific value, thermal conductivity of the resin interposers isessentially required to be increased.

Further, a connection structure with a solder ball is generally employedin a technique for mounting a semiconductor chip on a mother board as aparent printed board with a conventional interposer. The connectionstructure with a solder ball is limited by ball size and a connectionpitch is larger as the solder ball is larger, which provides alimitation on narrowing pitch. Particularly, with a mounting structurewherein an interposer strides and covers a tall component, it isnecessary to use a solder ball having a size corresponding to a heightof the component, which results in a very large connection pitch.Further, since there is fluctuation in a size of a solder ball, a solderball connection may not be made at some positions. Thus, the solder ballconnection may be unstable, which reduces a product yield in a worstcase. Furthermore, connection with use of a solder ball requiresmounting solder balls one by one, and therefore has a problem of lowproductivity.

On the other hand, a built-in component technique has been developed asa three-dimensional mounting technique as described above. However, inthis technique, a built-in component cannot be easily repaired orexchanged and additional cost is required to introduce a specialinstrument for three-dimensional mounting, which might be an obstacle topractical use of this technique.

The present invention is made in light of the problems of theconventional connection member, and an object of the present inventionis to provide a connection member which has a construction differentfrom that of a conventional one, so that it accommodates to fine pitchand it can be produced relatively efficiently, and to provide a methodfor producing the connection member. Another object of the presentinvention is to provide a module and a mount assembly which are obtainedusing the connection member.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to achieve the object as described above, the present inventionprovides a connection member which includes:

an insulating substrate which has an upper surface and a lower surfacewhich is opposite to the upper surface, and a side surface whichconnects the upper and the lower surfaces; and

at least one wiring which includes i) a side-surface wiring portionwhich is disposed on at least a part of the side surface and ii) atleast one of an upper-surface wiring portion and a lower-surface wiringportion, with the upper-surface wiring portion being connected to theside-surface wiring portion and disposed on at least a part of the uppersurface, and with the lower-surface wiring portion being connected tothe side-surface wiring portion and disposed on at least a part of thelower surface.

In the connection member of the present invention, “insulatingsubstrates” include a sheet-like or a plate-like substrate wherein athickness dimension is smaller than other dimensions, and a cube and arectangular parallelepiped whose thickness dimension is substantiallythe same as other dimensions. The “side surface” of the insulatingsubstrate corresponds to a surface parallel to a thickness direction,and the “upper surface” and the “lower surface” correspond to surfacesvertical to the thickness direction. In a case where the insulatingsubstrate takes a form wherein the thickness dimension is the same asthe other dimensions (for example, a cube), the scope of the presentinvention covers a connection member wherein a wiring disposed on onesurface (which is regarded as the side surface for convenience) furtherextends on at least one of surfaces which are parallel to each other andat right angles to the side surface, and these two surfaces which shallbe at right angles to the side surface are regarded as the upper and thelower surfaces. The insulating substrate has a concavity in the uppersurface and/or the lower surface. Further, in a case where theinsulating substrate has an opening which penetrates the upper surfaceto the lower surface, surfaces which define the opening are also sidesurfaces. Furthermore, the terms “upper” and “lower” are used to referto two surfaces vertical to the thickness direction, and they are notused to refer to absolute positions when the connection member is used.

The connection member according to the present invention ischaracterized in that it has wiring which extends from the side surfaceof the insulating substrate to at least one of the upper surface and thelower surface of the insulating substrate. The wiring is placed on atleast a part of the side surface and further extends over a part of theupper surface and/or the lower surface. In this specification, forconvenience, this wiring is referred to as a “U/L-shaped side wiring” soas to distinguish this wiring from other wirings which are disposed onlyon the upper surface or the lower surface. A “U-shaped side wiring” hasa side-surface wiring portion on the side surface, and both of anupper-surface wiring portion and a lower-surface wiring portion, and isbent at a right angle or into an arc at each of a border between theside surface and the upper surface and a border between the side surfaceand the lower surface, whereby it has an approximate “U”-shaped portion.An “L-shaped side wiring” has a side-surface wiring portion and eitheran upper-surface wiring portion or a lower-surface wiring portion, andis bent at a border between the side surface and the upper surface orthe lower surface at a right angle or into an arc, whereby it has anapproximate “L”-shaped portion. Herein, these wirings are genericallynamed as the “U/L-shaped side wiring” by using “/”. The U/L-shaped sidewiring ensures electrical conduction between the upper surface and thelower surface by its side-surface wiring portion, and electricallyconnects a circuit board or a component on an upper surface thereof toanother circuit board or a component on a lower surface thereof. In theconnection member of the present invention, the U/L-shaped side wiringis generally the U-shaped side wiring, wherein a part of the U-shapedside wiring extends on the upper surface of the insulating substrate andanother part of the U-shaped side wiring extends the lower surface ofthe insulating substrate, and still another part of the U-shaped sidewiring is disposed between these parts and extends on the side surfaceof the insulating substrate.

When the U/L-shaped side wiring is integrated with another electricalelement (for example, a wiring pattern formed on the upper surface), theU/L-shaped side wiring may not be apparently distinguished from theelectrical element. Also in that case, as long as the connection memberincludes a wiring portion which has the side-surface wiring portion andat least one of the upper-surface wiring portion and the lower-surfacewiring portion, the connection member is included in the scope of thepresent invention. Further, the U/L-shaped side wiring may have atwisted or deformed “U” or “L” shape when the side-surface wiringportion extends not parallel to the thickness direction. Such U- orL-shaped side wiring is included in the U/L-shaped side wiring. TheU/L-shaped side wiring may be branched, for example, on the sidesurface. As long as each branched wiring takes an approximate U- orL-shaped course, such a branched wiring is included in the U/L-shapedside wiring.

In one preferred embodiment of the connection member according to thepresent invention, the U/L-shaped side wiring passes through the sidesurface of the insulating substrate and extends between electricalelements on the upper surface and electrical elements on the lowersurface so as to electrically connect the electrical elements, andtherefore via(s) which penetrate from the upper surface to the lowersurface do not exist. In other words, the U/L-shaped side wiringsubstitutes for a via. Preferably, a plurality of electrical elementsexist on each of the upper and the lower surfaces, and therefore aplurality of U/L-shaped side wirings which substitute for viaspreferably exist, and particularly preferably many electrical elementsexist on each of the upper and lower surfaces.

A wiring pattern as an electrical element is a collective of wiringsformed on the upper or the lower surface of the insulating substrate,and a part (for example, end portion) of the U/L-shaped side wiring isconnected to a part of this wiring. An electrical connection element asthe electrical element means an element which lies for electricallyconnecting a wiring, a wiring board, or an electronic component to theconnection member, and may be, for example, a land, a pad, a terminal, asolder ball or a bump. Such electrical connection element may beconnected to a part of the U/L-shaped side wiring. In general, it ispreferred that the wiring pattern or the electrical connection elementis previously formed together with a part of the U/L-shaped side wiringintegrally. For example, the U/L-shaped side wiring and the electricalelement which are connected to each other may be formed together byetching a single metal layer. When the U/L-shaped side wiring and theelectrical element are not formed together, they may be connected usingan electrical connection material (for example, an electricallyconductive material such as solder, an electrical conductive adhesive, athin film formed by plating or vapor deposition, or a metal wire).

In the connection member of the present invention, a ratio of [a lengthof the side surface of the insulating substrate (that is, athickness)]/[a width of the U/L-shaped side wiring] is preferably atleast 1. Further, a minimum pitch of the side-surface wiring portions ofthe U/L-shaped side wiring is preferably at most 0.4 mm. When a ratio of[a thickness of the insulating substrate]/[the width of the U/L-shapedside wiring] and a wiring pitch are so small, an electronic componentwith a fine pitch or a wiring board with a fine pitch can be connectedto another component or another wiring board. A connection memberwherein a plurality of U/L-shaped side wirings of such a narrow widthare formed with such a small wiring pitch is a construction which hasnot been achieved in the prior art, and this construction is realized byforming each U/L-shaped side wiring by bending one wiring as describedbelow.

In the connection member of the present invention, the insulatingsubstrate may be formed of an insulating material which contains a resinor a resin-containing composition, and preferably of a compositematerial containing a resin and an inorganic filler. The resin may be atleast one of a hardening resin (preferably a thermosetting resin or alight curing resin) and a thermoplastic resin. In a case of thehardening resin, the resin is substantially completely cured in afinished connection member. Alternatively, in a case where the uppersurface and the lower surface has tackiness and adhesiveness under twodifferent conditions, or a connection operation is performed usingadhesiveness or flexibility of an uncured hardening resin, the hardeningresin is substantially completely cured in a final product whichincludes the connection member. Herein, the expression “being completelycured” means being in a state wherein the resin is not hardened anymore.

In one embodiment of the connection member of the present invention, atleast a part of the side-surface wiring portion of the U/L-shaped sidewiring may sink (or dent) in the insulating substrate in a directionperpendicular to a thickness direction of the insulating substrate. As aresult, a surface of this sunken wiring is located at a position whichis concave from a side surface of the insulating substrate. The sunkenwiring may constitute at least a part of the side-surface wiringportion, and preferably all parts of the side-surface wiring portion. Ina more preferred embodiment, in addition to the side-surface wiringportion, the upper-surface wiring portion and the lower-surface wiringportion of the U/L-shaped side wiring may sink in the insulatingsubstrate such that these sunken parts are adjacent the side-surfacewiring portion, or the sunken parts constitute an entirety of thosepotions. As a result, a corner portion of the U/L-shaped side wiring,which portion extends around a corner of the insulating substrate, isconcave from the surface of the insulating substrate. In anotherembodiment, a surface of the U/L-shaped side wiring may be flush with asurface of the insulating substrate.

Therefore, in one preferred embodiment wherein at least a part of thewiring portion is concaved as described, an entire exposed surface ofthe side-surface wiring portion of the U/L-shaped side wiring sinks inthe sheet substrate, whereby the exposed surface of the side-surfacewiring portion is flush with or concave from the side surface of thesubstrate. In a particular preferred embodiment, an exposed surface ofthe U/L-shaped side wiring also becomes a bottom surface of a concave ata corner portion of the U/L-shaped side wiring (where the upper or thelower surface and the side surface of the substrate intersect).

In one embodiment of the connection member according to the presentinvention, the U/L-shaped side wirings can serve as a coplanar line. TheU/L-shaped side wirings serving as the coplanar line preferably sink inthe side surface of the insulating substrate.

In one embodiment of the connection member according to the presentinvention, the insulating substrate may be formed by folding a sheetcontaining a semi-cured resin and then completely curing this foldedsheet. Such folding can form the U/L-shaped side wiring which extendsfrom the upper surface to the lower surface as a single wiring in theconnection member. The sheet containing the semi-cured resin ispreferably provided with a wiring pattern which includes, as a part, awiring which is to form the U/L-shaped side wiring. The wiring patternbecomes a wiring pattern on at least one surface of the connectionmember, which pattern is connected to the U/L-shaped side wiring toprovide an electrical circuit.

A shape of the connection member of the present invention may be anyshape in any embodiment described below. Specifically, the insulatingsubstrate has an upper surface of an approximate rectangle consisting oflong sides and narrow sides shorter than the long sides. In this case,the U/L-shaped side wirings may be arranged so that their side-surfacewiring portion(s) are disposed only on side surface(s) adjacent the longside(s).

Alternatively, in the connection member of the present invention, theupper surface of the insulating substrate may be an L-shape, a U-shape,or a rectangular frame with an opening at its center. Alternatively, atleast one of the upper surface and the lower surface of the insulatingsheet may have at least one of concave portion and convex portion.

The connection member of the present invention may be provided invarious embodiments as long as it has the U/L-shaped side wiring.Specifically, the connection member of the present invention may beprovided as a sheet-like connection member wherein the insulatingsubstrate is a sheet substrate (hereinafter, this connection member isparticularly referred to as a “connector sheet”). Herein the “sheetsubstrate” refers to a thin substrate wherein a thickness dimension issmaller than other dimensions. The connector sheet may be advantageouslyused in that it less affects a low profile of a mount assembly. Further,since the connector sheet ensures electrical conduction between theupper surface and the lower surface by the U/L-shaped side wiring, itcan well connect two or more printed boards even if its thickness issmall. Furthermore, this connector sheet may be formed so as to adapt toa wiring board with a fine pitch or a component with a fine pitch byadjusting a width of the U/L-shaped side wiring and a space between theU/L-shaped side wirings.

In a case where the sheet substrate constituting the connector sheetcontains a hardening resin, the hardening resin may be uncured or cured.The hardening resin contained in the sheet substrate preferably hastackiness and adhesiveness as well as flexibility until the connectorsheet is connected to an electronic component or a circuit board in apredetermined manner and is preferably hardened in a final productwherein the connector sheet is connected to the electronic component orthe circuit board. An uncured state of the resin may be utilized forforming the U/L-shaped side wiring and connecting two circuit boards ina predetermined direction with the connector sheet at the same time byfolding a sheet containing the resin (see FIG. 16). Further, when thisuncured hardening resin has tackiness, the electronic component or thecircuit board may be temporarily connected to the connector sheet andthen an examination can be conducted. In this case, when an electricalconnection is seen to be bad, a temporal connection is released and aproblematic member (for example, an electronic component or theconnection member) can be easily replaced by another one. Alternatively,when the uncured hardening resin has adhesiveness, the connector sheetmay be easily attached to an electronic component or a circuit board byusing this adhesiveness.

In one embodiment of the connector sheet of the present invention, theupper surface of the sheet substrate is a flat surface and eightU/L-shaped side wirings are provided.

In another embodiment of the connector sheet of the present invention,at least one of the upper surface and the lower surface of the sheetsubstrate has at least one of concave portion and convex portion, andeight U/L-shaped side wirings are provided.

In a case where at least one of the upper surface and the lower surfaceof the sheet substrate has at least one of the concave portion and theconvex portion in the connector sheet, at least one of the uppersurface-wiring portion and the lower surface-wiring portion of theU/L-shaped side wiring preferably extends on at least one of an innerside surface of the concave portion and a protruded side surface of theconvex portion. In this connector sheet, the inner side surface of theconcave portion and/or the protruded side surface of the convex portionare electrically connected to the upper surface or the lower surface ofthe connection member via the wiring portion extending on the inner sidesurface of the concave portion and/or the protruded side surface of theconvex portion.

In one embodiment of the connector sheet of the present invention, theupper surface of the sheet substrate has an approximate rectangularshape consisting of long sides and narrow sides shorter than the longsides. Alternatively, the upper surface of the sheet substrate has an“L”-shape or a rectangular frame shape.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the upper surface and thelower surface of the sheet substrate may have tackiness under a firstcondition and adhesiveness under a second condition that is differentfrom the first condition. In that case, the second condition is acondition under which a hardening (or curing) reaction of a materialconstituting the upper surface and the lower surface proceeds. Theconnector sheet having tackiness and adhesiveness can be replaced withanother one during assembling of a module. Herein, “adhesiveness” meanspermanent adhesiveness and “tackiness” means that if an object hastackiness, it can be bonded to another object by applying a slightpressure and removed again. In general, the term “tackiness” is used asa word meaning the opposite of permanent adhesiveness. In general, anobject (sheet substrate) having tackiness can be bonded to anotherobject or cause another object to be bonded to the object by onlyapplying a slight pressure at room temperature during a short time,without using water, a solvent and heat. The object bonded to theanother object by its tackiness is fixedly bonded to the another object,but it can be peeled off from a hard flat surface, since a tack portionhas a cohesive power and elasticity. On the other hand, the term“adhesion” refers to a state wherein two faces are integrally bonded bya chemical force or a physical force or both. In general, an adhesiveagent can bond two or more objects into one body by adhesion.

A surface having tackiness and adhesiveness preferably contains amaterial selected from a group consisting of a mixture of a siliconeresin and a thermosetting resin, a mixture of a thermoplastic resin anda thermosetting resin, and a mixture of a UV-curing resin and athermosetting resin. The first condition may be preferably a temperaturecondition in a range of 0° C. to 80° C. when these materials or othermaterials are used. That is, the first condition is achieved by placingthe upper surface and the lower surface in an atmosphere in thistemperature range. The second condition may be preferably a temperaturecondition under which post-curing reaction of the thermosetting resinproceeds. That is, the second condition is achieved by placing the uppersurface and the lower surface in an atmosphere of a temperature at whichcuring of the thermosetting resin proceeds and then the thermosettingresin is completely hardened.

In the above, the connector sheet is described as one embodiment of theconnection member of the present invention. The connection member of thepresent invention may be provided as a connection member with a core,wherein the insulating substrate is a substrate including (1) a coremember and (2) an electrically insulating layer which covers at least apart of the core member. In this connection member, the electricallyinsulating layer which constitutes the insulating substrate has anupper-surface portion which is disposed on at least a part of an uppersurface of the core member, a lower-surface portion which is disposed onat least a part of a lower surface of the core member which is oppositeto the upper surface of the core member, and a side-surface portionwhich is disposed on at least a part of a side surface of the coremember and connects the upper-surface portion and the lower-surfaceportion. Further, in this connection member, the upper-surface wiringportion of the U/L-shaped side wiring is disposed on at least a part ofthe upper-surface portion of the electrically insulating layer, thelower-surface wiring portion is disposed on at least a part of thelower-surface portion of the electrically insulating layer, and theside-surface wiring portion is disposed on at least a part of theside-surface portion of the electrically insulating layer. In theconnection member of this embodiment, the core member is closely adheredto the electrically insulating layer and supports the electricallyinsulating layer. In a case where the core member is rigid, a shape ofthe electrically insulating layer can be maintained stably.

In a preferred embodiment of the connection member with a core, a viawhich penetrates from the upper-surface portion to the lower-surfaceportion of the electrically insulating layer does not exist. That is,the side-surface wiring portion of the U/L-shaped side wiring whichextends on the side-surface portion of the electrically insulating layersubstitutes for a via. In a more preferred embodiment, a plurality ofelectrical elements exist on each of the upper- and the lower-surfaceportions, and therefore a plurality of U/L-shaped side wirings whichconnect the electrical elements preferably exist, and particularlypreferably many U/L-shaped side wirings exist. Each electrical elementis as described above, and a detail description thereof is omitted.

In the connection member with a core, the electrically insulating layeris of an insulating material layer which provides a place where theU/L-shaped side wiring is situated. Therefore, the electricallyinsulating layer may be preferably formed of a material which is alreadyreferred to as the material for the insulating substrate. That is, theelectrically insulating layer may be preferably formed of an insulatingmaterial containing a resin or a resin-containing composition, and morepreferably of a composite material containing a resin and an inorganicfiller. The resin may be at least one of a hardening resin (preferably athermosetting resin or a light curing resin) and a thermoplastic resin.In another embodiment, material of the electrically insulating layer mayoptionally be flexible.

In a case where the electrically insulating layer contains the hardeningresin, the hardening resin may be uncured or cured. That is, thehardening resin contained in the electrically insulating layer isuncured and has tackiness and adhesiveness until the connection memberis connected to an electronic component or a circuit board in apredetermined manner, and is preferably hardened in a final productwherein the connection member is connected to the electronic componentor the circuit board. In a case where the electrically insulating layercontains the uncured hardening resin, as described in conjunction withthe sheet substrate of the connector sheet, the connection member may beeasily attached to the circuit board or the electronic component, or anexamination and a component replacement may be conducted by utilizingthe tackiness of the hardening resin. Further, in a case where theelectrically insulating layer contains the uncured hardening resin andthe core member has flexibility, the connection member may be optionallybent when it is used.

In one embodiment of the connection member with a core, the core membermay be preferably formed of a flexible material (for example, a resinfilm or a metal foil). In that case, freedom of mounting with use of theconnection member is advantageously increased. In another embodiment,the core member may be preferably formed of a metal (such as copper,nickel or aluminum). In that case, since thermal conductivity of theconnection member can be increased, the connection member isadvantageously used when heat should be released in a large amount froma semiconductor device or a board which includes the device. Further, ina case where the electrically insulating layer does not cover an entiresurface of the core member and exposes at least a part of the coremember, heat release by the core member can be more effectivelyexploited. A core member of a metal increases this effect.

In still another embodiment of the connection member with a core, atleast a part of a surface of the core member may be roughened. In a casewhere the electrically insulating layer is formed on this roughenedsurface, adhesion between the electrically insulating layer and the coremember is increased to improve reliability of the connection member.

A configuration of the core member in the connection member with a coreis not limited to a particular one, and an entire configuration may be,for example, a rectangular parallelepiped or a configuration having aconcave portion. When the core member has a concave portion, anelectronic component can be disposed within the concave portion.Further, a shape of the core member seen from a direction in which theupper surface and the lower surface overlap (that is, seen from rightabove) may be a rectangular frame shape or a U-shape. In that case, anelectronic component may be easily disposed three-dimensionally andthereby a mounting density is increased. Further, in the connectionmember with a core, the side-surface portion of the electricallyinsulating layer may be curved. A curve of the side-surface portion ofthe electrically insulating layer may be caused by a curve of the sidesurface of the core member, or may be caused by folding the electricallyinsulating layer.

In the connection member of the present invention, the insulatingsubstrate may be a plate substrate. In that case, the connection memberof the present invention may be preferably used as an interposer. The“interposer” is an electrode-pitch converting board which is used formounting a semiconductor device (particularly a bare chip) onto a board.A terminal of the semiconductor chip and a connection terminal of theprinted board can be electrically connected through the interposer, or agrid can be converted through the interposer. The “plate substrate”generally means a member wherein a thickness dimension is smaller thanother dimensions. The plate substrate is generally a rigid substrate,however, it may have flexibility as long as the flexibility dose notobstruct usage of the connection member. The plate substrate may beformed of material which is already referred to as the material of theinsulating substrate. When the plate substrate contains, for example, ahardening resin, the resin may be previously hardened in the platesubstrate before the connection member is connected to an electroniccomponent or a circuit board. In that point, the plate substrate isdifferent from the sheet substrate wherein the hardening resin may beuncured before the connection member is connected to the electroniccomponent or the circuit board. Preferred embodiments for the interposerare particularly described below as the connection member including theplate member.

In one embodiment of the interposer of the present invention, theinterposer is an organic interposer wherein sixteen or more U/L-shapedside wirings are provided. Herein, the “organic interposer” refers to aninterposer which contains an organic material, and the organic materialsinclude an organic resin such as a thermoplastic resin and athermosetting resin.

In another embodiment of the present invention, at most five hundredU/L-shaped side wirings are provided. In the interposer of the presentinvention, a width of the U/L-shaped side wiring and a space between theU/L-shaped side wirings can be small, which allows a configurationwherein many (at most five hundred) U/L-shaped side wirings areprovided. A semiconductor device with a fine pitch is suitable to bemounted on an upper surface or a lower surface of the interposer havingsuch many U/L-shaped side wirings.

In the interposer of the present invention, one end of the U/L-shapedside wiring may be disposed, for example, in an outer peripheral regionof an upper surface of the plate substrate depending on an arrangementof terminals of a semiconductor device. Alternatively, one end of theU/L-shaped side wiring may be arranged into a grid pattern on a lowersurface of the plate substrate depending on an arrangement of terminalsof a circuit board to which the interposer is mounted.

In one embodiment of the interposer of the present invention, an area ofthe upper surface of the plate substrate is at most 200 mm², and thenumber of the U/L-shaped side wirings is at most sixteen on the uppersurface.

In another embodiment of the interposer of the present invention, a landmay be formed together with the U/L-shaped side wiring at one end orboth ends of the U/L-shaped side wiring.

A shape of the plate substrate constituting the interposer is notparticularly limited. For example, the upper surface of the platesubstrate may have an approximate rectangular shape consisting of longsides and narrow sides shorter than the long sides. In that case, alength of the long sides may be at most three times a length of thenarrow sides, or may be at least ten times the length of the narrowsides. Further, when the plate substrate is rectangular, the U/L-shapedside wirings may be arranged such that the side-surface wiring portionsare placed only on a side surface(s) adjacent a long side(s).

In one embodiment of the interposer of the present invention, a width ofthe side-surface wiring portion of the U/L-shaped side wiring is at most0.25 mm and a space between the side-surface wiring portions is at most0.3 mm. A configuration wherein the width and the space as to theU/L-shaped side wirings is small can be realized by a technique ofbending wiring for forming the U/L-shaped side wirings, and thisconfiguration is an important characteristic of the present invention.This characteristic allows the connection member to adapt to asemiconductor device having a fine pitch or a circuit board having afine pitch.

The interposer may have a shield layer inside the plate substrate. Theshield layer may be provided for protecting, for example, asemiconductor device mounted on the upper surface of the interposeragainst an electromagnetic wave from a board (such as a mother board)where the interposer is mounted. The shield layer is difficult to beformed inside a plate substrate having vias. The interposer according tothe present invention can be constructed without vias in the platesubstrate, whereby the shield layer can be easily formed inside theplate substrate.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the plate substrate has anapproximately hexahedral shape wherein the upper and the lower surfacesof the plate substrate each have an approximately rectangular shape.Herein the terms “approximate hexahedron” and “approximate rectangle”are used in the sense that they include, in addition to a geometricalhexahedron such as (a rectangular parallelepiped and a cube) and arectangle (such as a square and a rectangle), hexahedrons and rectangleswhose corners or edges are rounded and those whose surfaces are notcompletely flat but curved. In that case, a plurality of U/L-shaped sidewirings may be provided so that side-surface wiring portions aresituated on all of four side surfaces of the approximate hexahedron. Inother words, the interposer of the present invention may have at leastfour U/L-shaped side wirings whose positions of the side-surface wiringportions are different from each other provided that a single U/L-shapedside wiring does not extend over two side surfaces. The words “extendingover two side surfaces” means that the U/L-shaped side wiring extendsfrom the upper surface to the lower surface through one side surface andreaches another side surface. Herein, such a U/L-shaped side wiring isregarded as two or more U/L-shaped side wirings corresponding to thenumber of the side surfaces where the U/L-shaped side wiring passes.

In one embodiment of the interposer of the present invention, the platesubstrate may be a rectangular frame shape with an opening in itscenter. In that case, the side-surface portion of the U/L-shaped sidewiring may be disposed on an inner side surface which defines theopening, and a shield layer may be provided on an outer side surface ofthe plate substrate. The interposer of this constitution effectivelyreduces noise since the U/L-shaped side wiring is disposed on the innerside surface which is enclosed by the plate substrate, and the outerside surface is covered with the shield layer.

In another embodiment of the interposer of the present invention, theplate substrate may be of a shape which has at least one of a concaveportion and a convex portion. This shape may enable an electroniccomponent to be mounted three-dimensionally, whereby more electroniccomponents can be mounted on a printed board (a parent board) having apredetermined mounting area.

The plate substrate may have a U-shape or a C-shape. More specifically,the plate substrate may have a U-shape or a C-shape when one sidesurface of the plate substrate is seen or when the plate substrate isseen from a direction in which the upper surface and the lower surfaceoverlap. A plate substrate whose side surface is U-shape or C-shape maybe of a rectangular shape when it is seen from the upper surface.Further, the plate substrate whose side surface is U-shape or C-shapemay have a portion where the side surface does not connect the uppersurface and the lower surface.

In the interposer of the present invention, the U/L-shaped side wiringmay be a wiring having only the upper-surface wiring portion and theside-surface wiring portion, that is, an L-shaped side wiring. With useof solder or a conductive adhesive, the L-shaped side wiring canelectrically connect a semiconductor device which is mounted on theinterposer to a board (such as a mother board) where the interposer ismounted. One end portion of the side-surface wiring portion of theL-shaped side wiring is preferably disposed on a boundary portionbetween the side surface and the lower surface of the interposer.Thereby, the side-surface portion can be more securely connected to theboard on which the interposer is mounted.

In a case where the U/L-shaped side wiring is of an L-shape, it ispreferable that only the U/L-shaped side wiring provides electricalconduction between the upper surface and the side surface of the platesubstrate. Therefore, it is preferable that a via is not formed in theplate substrate. Further, a guide groove which leads to the L-shapedside wiring is preferably formed on the side surface of the platesubstrate. Such a groove may be formed, as described above, by locatingthe top surface of the side-surface wiring portion at an inner positionof the plate substrate relative to the side surface of the platesubstrate.

The interposer of the present invention is one embodiment of the presentinvention. Therefore, of course, the interposer of the present inventionmay have any of the constructions common to all embodiments of theconnection member of the present invention which is already describedabove. For example, one end of the U/L-shaped side wiring may beconnected to an electrical element and the electrical element and theU/L-shaped side wiring may be formed together in the interposer of thepresent invention. Further, in the interposer of the present invention,a portion of the U/L-shaped side wiring which is situated in the cornerportion of the plate substrate may be preferably located at an innerposition of the plate substrate relative to a surface defining thecorner portion.

The connection member of the present invention is combined with two ormore circuit boards to construct a mount assembly. That is, the presentinvention provides a mount assembly including at least one connectionmember of the present invention and at least two circuit boards, whereinthe connection member is disposed between the circuit boards. Theconnection member may be, for example, the connector sheet as describedabove.

In this mount assembly, two circuit boards may be connected with aplurality of connection members. The connection member with a core isparticularly suitable for such connection, since a plurality ofconnection members with cores can be formed so that they have arelatively uniform dimension (particularly, thickness).

In the mount assembly of the present invention, two circuit boards maybe connected to the connection member by different mounting methods. Forexample, one circuit board may be connected to the upper surface of theconnection member by reflow soldering and the other circuit board may beconnected to the lower surface of the connection member by ananisotropic conductive film (ACF).

Another mount assembly including the connection member of the presentinvention may further include:

a first circuit board having a wiring pattern on a side surface;

a second circuit board having a wiring pattern on a side surface; and

the connection member of the present invention,

wherein the wiring pattern formed on the side surface of the firstcircuit board is connected to a side-surface wiring portion on one sidesurface of the connection member, and the wiring pattern formed on theside surface of the second circuit board is connected to a side-surfacewiring portion on another side surface of the connection member, wherebythe first and the second circuit boards are electrically connected. Thismount assembly has a construction wherein the circuit boards areconnected in a horizontal direction (a direction parallel to the upperand lower surfaces). Three or more circuit boards may be connected. Thismount assembly may be preferably constructed by using the connectorsheet or the connection member with a core.

In the mount assembly described above, an exposed surface of theU/L-shaped side wiring formed in the connection member may be concavefrom the surface of the connection member, the wiring pattern formed onthe circuit board may have a portion protruded from the surface of thecircuit board, and this concave exposed surface of the wiring and thisprotruded wiring portion may contact each other by a fitting operation.Contact between the circuit board and the wiring of the connectionmember by this fitting operation may ensure more secure electricalconduction. This mount assembly may be preferably constructed by using,for example, the connector sheet as the connection member.

Another mount assembly is constructed by combining the connection memberof the present invention with an electronic component. That is, thepresent invention provides a component mount assembly including theconnection member of the present invention, and an electronic componentdisposed on at least one of the upper and lower surfaces of theconnection member, wherein the electronic component is electricallyconnected to a U/L-shaped side wiring or an electrical element which isconnected to the U/L-shaped side wiring. The “electronic component”refers to an active component such as a semiconductor device and apassive component such as a capacitor, an inductor, a resistor and asurface acoustic wave device. This component mount assembly may bepreferably constructed by using, for example, a connection member with acore or a connection member having a plate substrate as an insulatingsubstrate (particularly an interposer).

For example, a module may be constructed by combining the interposerwith an electronic component. That is, the present invention provides amodule including the interposer of the present invention and anelectronic component disposed on the upper surface of the interposer.Herein, the “module” is a kind of mount assembly and the term “module”refers to a constitutional element which functions independently. Thismodule is generally mounted on a printed wiring board.

In one embodiment of the component mount assembly of the presentinvention, two connection members of the present invention and twosemiconductor devices as electronic components may be provided. That is,the component mount assembly of the present invention may have aconstruction wherein a first electronic component is mounted on an uppersurface of a first connection member, and a second connection member isdisposed on the upper surface of the first connection member and asecond electronic component is mounted on the upper surface of thesecond connection member. The mount assembly of this construction may beconstructed by using the interposers as the first and the secondconnection members and a semiconductor memory or an LSI as each of thefirst and the second electronic components.

In the component mount assembly of the present invention, the electroniccomponent may be a semiconductor chip whose terminal pitch is at most150 μm or a semiconductor chip which has at least sixteen terminals.Since the connection member of the present invention (particularlyinterposer) may be constructed so as to adapt to a fine pitch, theconnection member is suitable for mounting, on its upper surface, asemiconductor chip with a fine pitch or a semiconductor chip whereinmany terminals are provided.

The present invention also provides a mount assembly wherein aconnection member (which is referred to as a “second connectionmember”), is disposed on at least one of an upper surface and a lowersurface of a connection member with a core (which is referred to as a“first connection member”) and the second connection member iselectrically connected to a U/L-shaped side wiring or an electricalelement which is electrically connected to the U/L-shaped side wiring ofthe first connection member. The second connection member may be theconnection member of the present invention or a connection member ofknown type. Further, instead of the second connection member, aconventional circuit board (which may or may not have a built-inelectronic component) may be disposed. In a variation of thisembodiment, an electronic component may be mounted on at least one ofthe upper and the lower surfaces of the first connection member.

In a case where the connection member of the present invention is aconnector sheet as described above, a mount assembly including theconnector sheet can be constructed, which includes:

a circuit board wherein wiring patterns are formed on both surfaces; and

a connector sheet of the present invention, in which a concave portionis formed by bending a sheet containing a semi-cured resin and aU/L-shaped side wiring having a portion extending on an inner sidesurface of the concave portion,

wherein a side surface of the circuit board fits into the concaveportion; and

a wiring pattern formed on one surface of the circuit board iselectrically connected with a wiring pattern formed on the other surfaceof the circuit board via the wiring portion extending on the inner sidesurface of the concave portion. In this mount assembly, the circuitboard and the connector sheet are electrically connected by fitting thecircuit board into the concave portion formed in the connector sheet. Inthis mount assembly, it is preferred that a via is not formed also inthe circuit board.

Any mount assembly of the present invention which is described above canconstruct an electronic device together with a casing for housing themount assembly. In other words, the present invention provides anelectronic device which includes a mount assembly having a connectionmember of the present invention and a casing for housing the mountassembly. The electronic device may be preferably a portable electronicdevice.

The component mount assembly of the present invention and a printedwiring board (for example, a mother board) where the mount assembly ismounted, may construct an electronic device. One embodiment of theelectronic device having the component mount assembly of the presentinvention is a device including the component mount assembly of thepresent invention which includes an interposer, a connector into which aside surface of the interposer is fitted and a mother board where theconnector is provided. This electronic device has a vertical componentmounting construction which is achieved by connecting the side surfaceof the interposer to the mother board utilizing the U/L-shaped sidewiring of the interposer. This construction makes it possible to mountmore modules on the mother board with a smaller area.

The present invention also provides a method for producing a connectionmember of the present invention. A production method of the presentinvention is characterized in that it includes forming a U/L-shaped sidewiring by bending a wiring layer that has at least one wiring formed onone plane. Specific procedures of this production method are detailedbelow.

The present invention provides a method for producing a connectionmember (which is referred to as “a first production method” forconvenience so as to bedistinguished from other methods for producing aconnection member as described below). The first production methodincludes steps of:

(1-A) preparing a sheet which includes a wiring layer having at leastone wiring and an insulating layer containing a semi-cured resin (thislayer may be referred to as a “sheet “A”” for convenience so as to beingdistinguished from a sheet used in other production methods);

(1-B) bending (or folding) the sheet “A” so that parts of the insulatinglayer face each other and portions of the at least one wiring face eachother across the insulating layer, and another portion of the at leastone wiring extends on a side surface of the insulating layer which isformed by a bent part of the insulating layer; and

(1-C) curing the resin contained in the insulating layer of bent sheet“A”.

In the step (1-B), the parts of the insulating layer preferably faceeach other while in contact with each other. The meaning of “the partsof the insulating layer face each other” is that the parts of theinsulating layer overlap. The parts of the insulating layer may overlapwith a space therebetween or in contact with each other.

The insulating layer constitutes the insulating substrate of theconnection member. By reducing a thickness of the insulating layer, theinsulating substrate becomes a sheet, and thus a connector sheet isobtained by this method. The insulating layer is preferably formed of acomposite material containing a thermosetting resin and an inorganicfiller.

The step of preparing the sheet “A”, that is, the step (1-A) may beperformed according to a method which includes steps of:

(1-a) preparing a laminate which includes a carrier sheet and a metallayer formed thereon;

(1-b) processing the metal layer so as to form a wiring layer (or awiring pattern) having at least one wiring; and

(1-c) forming an insulating layer containing a semi-cured resin on thewiring pattern.

In the step (1-c), the wiring layer may be formed by etching. In thatcase, the etching may be performed such that, in addition to anunnecessary portion of the metal layer (that is, a portion which doesnot form the wiring pattern), a portion of the carrier sheet which isbeneath the unnecessary portion of the metal layer is removed. As aresult, a sheet “A” is obtained, wherein the resin goes over the surfaceof the wiring layer (that is, a contact plane between the metal layerand the carrier sheet) and enters into a concavity formed in the carriersheet. The connection member produced using such a sheet “A” gives aconnection member wherein a surface (an exposed surface) of the wiringis located inside the insulating substrate relative to the surface ofthe insulating substrate

In the first production method, the carrier sheet may be removed beforethe step (1-B). In that case, the sheet “A” is a sheet consisting of aninsulating layer (resin layer) and a wiring layer. Alternatively, thecarrier sheet may be removed after the step (1-B) or the step (1-C).

The production method of the present invention may be realized byanother method for producing a connection member (which is referred toas “a second production method” for convenience so as to bedistinguishedfrom other methods for producing a connection member as described aboveor below). The second production method includes steps of:

(2-A) preparing a sheet containing a semi-cured resin;

(2-B) bending the sheet;

(2-C) forming an insulating substrate by curing the sheet after the step(2-B); and

(2-D) forming on the insulating substrate at least one wiring whichincludes i) a side-surface wiring portion which is disposed on at leasta part of a side surface and ii) at least one of an upper-surface wiringportion and a lower-surface wiring portion, with the upper-surfacewiring portion being connected to the side-surface wiring portion anddisposed on at least a part of an upper surface, and with thelower-surface wiring portion being connected to the side-surface wiringportion each other and disposed on at least a part of a lower surface.In this production method, a sheet containing a rein in a semi-curedstate (this sheet may be referred to as a “sheet “B” for convenience soas to bedistinguished from a sheet used in other production methods) isfolded to form an insulating substrate of a desired shape and then aU/L-shaped side wiring is formed.

In the second production method, the sheet “B” is preferably formed of acomposite material which contains at least 100 parts by weight of aninorganic filler relative to 100 parts by weight of a thermosettingresin.

Alternatively, the production method of the present invention may berealized by another method for producing a connection member (which isreferred to as “a third production method” for convenience so as tobedistinguished from other methods for producing a connection member asdescribed above or below). The third production method includes stepsof:

(3-A) forming a wiring layer including at least one wiring on at least apart of a surface of a carrier sheet;

(3-B) forming on the surface of the carrier sheet a resin layercontaining a hardening resin which is to be an insulating layer, so asto cover the wiring layer with the resin layer;

(3-C) disposing a core member on the resin layer and bending the carriersheet with the resin layer in contact with the core member so thatportions of the at least one wiring face each other across the resinlayer, and the core member and another portion of the at least onewiring extends on a side surface of the resin layer which is formed by abent part of the resin layer; and

(3-D) curing the resin contained in the resin layer so as to form theinsulating layer; and

(3-E) removing the carrier sheet so as to expose the wiring layer.

The connection member produced by this production method is a connectionmember wherein an insulating substrate includes the core member and theinsulating layer formed by curing the resin contained in the resin layerwhich has covered the carrier sheet.

Alternatively, the production method of the present invention may berealized by another method (which is referred to as “a fourth productionmethod” for convenience so as to be distinguished from other methods forproducing a connection member as described above or below). The fourthproduction method includes steps of:

(4-A) forming a wiring layer including at least one wiring on at least apart of a surface of a carrier sheet;

(4-B) forming a resin layer containing a hardening resin on a surface ofa core member so as to cover at least a part of a surface of a coremember;

(4-C) bending the carrier sheet around the core member with the resinlayer in contact with the wiring layer so that portions of the at leastone wiring face each other across the resin layer, and the core memberand another portion of the at least one wiring extend on a side surfaceof the resin layer; and

(4-D) curing the resin contained in the resin layer so as to form aninsulating layer; and

(4-E) removing the carrier sheet so as to expose the wiring layer.

The connection member produced by this production method is a connectionmember wherein an insulating substrate includes the core member and theinsulating layer formed by curing the resin contained in the resin layerwhich is formed around the core member.

Alternatively, the production method of the present invention may berealized by another method (which is referred to as “a fifth productionmethod” for convenience so as to be distinguished from other methods forproducing a connection member as described above or below). The fifthproduction method includes steps of:

(5-A) forming a wiring layer including at least one wiring on at least apart of a surface of a carrier sheet;

(5-B) bending the carrier sheet with the wiring layer inside so thatportions of the at least one wiring face each other and a space isformed between these opposed portions;

(5-C) forming a resin layer by introducing a material containing ahardening resin into the space; and

(5-D) curing the resin contained in the resin layer so as to form aninsulating layer; and

(5-E) removing the carrier sheet so as to expose the wiring layer.

According to this production method, the wiring which is bent so thatportions thereof are opposed to each other becomes a U/L-shaped sidewiring.

In the fifth production method, the step (5-C) may be performed as aprocess including steps of:

(5-c′) introducing a resin containing a hardening resin into the space;and

(5-c″) inserting a core member into material introduced into the space.

The connection member produced by the fifth production method includingthe steps (5-c′) and (5-c″) is a connection member wherein theinsulating substrate has a core.

There is no need to form a via in the connection member of the presentinvention, since the connection member of the present invention has aU/L-shaped side wiring which extends from an upper surface to a lowersurface of an insulating substrate through a side surface thereof, orwhich extends from the upper surface or the lower surface to the sidesurface and terminates on the side surface of the insulating substrate.Therefore, the present invention provides a connection member which ismore efficiently produced than a conventional connection member.Further, the connection member of the present invention can adapt to afine pitch since the connection member can be provided wherein a widthof the U/L-shaped side wiring and a space between the U/L-shaped sidewrings are narrow. Furthermore, a shape of the connection member may beconstructed to have a concave portion or a convex portion, whereby aplurality of components can be mounted three-dimensionally on a board ofa predetermined dimension. Therefore, mount assemblies, modules andelectronic devices of various embodiments can be provided by using theconnection member of the present invention. Furthermore, an entiresingle component can be stably connected to a circuit board or anothercomponent using fewer connection members of the present invention byadjusting a location and pitch of the U/L-shaped side wirings. Aconnection operation using the connection member of the presentinvention makes it possible to produce a mount assembly or an electronicdevice with a higher productivity compared to a conventional connectionoperation which involves mounting solder balls one by one.

By selecting a shape and material of the insulating substrate, theconnection member of the present invention may be provided in variousembodiments, such as a connector sheet, a connection member with a core,and an interposer. For example, since the connector sheet is a connectorin a thin sheet form, it can contribute to miniaturization of anelectronic component. The connection member with a core has an improveddimensional stability and a very stable precision in height by virtue ofthe core. Therefore, when the connection member with a core is used inan electronic device, bad connection is reduced and a yield is improved.The interposer of the present invention can be more efficiently producedcompared with a conventional interposer since the interposer of thepresent invention does not require a via.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of attendantadvantages thereof will become readily apparent with reference to thefollowing detailed description, particularly when considered inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a connector sheet 100in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing a connector sheet 100in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a mount assembly including a connectorsheet 100;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view schematically showing a connector sheet 100in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view schematically showing a connector sheet 200in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view schematically showing a combination ofconnector sheets 200 shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view schematically showing a connector sheet 300in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view schematically showing a connector sheet 350in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view schematically showing a connector sheet 100in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view schematically showing a connector sheet100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 11( a) to 11(d) are sectional views which schematically show stepsin a method for producing a member for forming a sheet 15 containing asemi-cured resin;

FIGS. 12( a) and 12(b) are sectional views which schematically show afolding step and a heating and pressurizing step;

FIGS. 13( a) and 13(b) are sectional views which schematically show afolding step and a heating and pressurizing step;

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of a mount assembly in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 15( a) and 15(b) are sectional views which schematically show amethod for using a connector sheet 101;

FIGS. 16( a) and 16(b) are sectional views which schematically show aprocess for electrically connecting circuit boards 506 and 507, andmanufacturing a connector sheet 100 at the same time;

FIGS. 17( a) and 17(b) are sectional views which schematically show amethod for producing a mount assembly which includes a connector sheet100;

FIGS. 18 to 20 are enlarged views of a substantial part of a U/L-shapedside wiring 20 in the connector sheet of the present invention;

FIGS. 21( a) to 21(c) are sectional views which schematically show amethod for electrically connecting circuit boards using a connectorsheet 100;

FIG. 22 is a perspective view schematically showing a connection member2100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 23 is a sectional view schematically showing a connection member2100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 24( a) to 24(c) are sectional views which schematically show afourth method for producing a connection member;

FIG. 25 is a perspective view schematically showing a connection member2400 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 26 is a sectional view schematically showing a connection member2500 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 27 is a sectional view schematically showing a connection member2600 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 28 is a sectional view schematically showing a connection member2700 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 29 is a perspective view schematically showing a connection member2800 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 30 is a perspective view schematically showing a connection member2900 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 31 is a sectional view schematically showing a connection member3000 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 32( a) to 32(c) are sectional views which schematically show stepsin a third method for producing a connection member;

FIG. 33 is a sectional view of a connection member 3200 and a mountassembly 3210 in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 34 is a sectional view of a connection member 3300 and a mountassembly 3310 in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 35 is a sectional view which schematically shows a construction ofmount assembly wherein two connection members of the present inventionare stacked;

FIG. 36 is a sectional view which schematically shows a construction ofmount assembly 3510 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 37 is a sectional view which schematically shows a construction ofmount assembly 3610 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 38 is a sectional view which schematically shows steps in a methodfor producing a connection member;

FIGS. 39( a) to 39(g) are sectional views which schematically show stepsin a third method for producing a plurality of connection members;

FIGS. 40( a) and 40(b) are perspective views of a sub-board on which aconnection member of the present invention is mounted, and a circuitboard on which the sub-board is mounted;

FIG. 41 is a perspective view schematically showing an interposer 4100in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 42( a) is a perspective view schematically showing an interposer4100 of the present invention, FIG. 42( b) is a perspective viewschematically showing an interposer with vias 5000, and FIG. 42( c) is agraph which shows a relationship between an upper surface area of aninterposer and a number of top-bottom connection elements between theupper and lower surfaces;

FIG. 43 is a graph which shows a relationship between an upper surfacearea of an interposer and a number of top-bottom connection elements foreach line/space;

FIG. 44 is a graph which shows a relationship between a ratio of longside/narrow side on an upper surface of an interposer and a number oftop-bottom connection elements for each line/space;

FIG. 45 is a graph which shows a relationship between a ratio of longside/narrow side on an upper surface of an interposer and a number oftop-bottom connection elements for each line/space;

FIG. 46 is a graph which shows a relationship between a ratio of longside/narrow side on an upper surface of an interposer and a number oftop-bottom connection elements for each line/space;

FIG. 47 is a perspective view schematically showing an interposer 4200in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 48 is a perspective view schematically showing an interposer 4250in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 49 is a perspective view schematically showing an interposer 4300in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 50 is a perspective view schematically showing an interposer 4350in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 51 is a sectional view schematically showing a construction of aninterposer 4100 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 52( a) to 52(d) are sectional views which schematically show stepsin a method for producing a member for forming a sheet 4015 containing asemi-cured resin;

FIGS. 53( a) and 53(b) are sectional views which schematically show afolding step and a heating and pressurizing step;

FIGS. 54( a) and 54(b) are sectional views which schematically show afolding step and a heating and pressurizing step;

FIGS. 55 to 57 are enlarged views of a substantial part of a U/L-shapedside wiring 4020 in an interposer of the present invention;

FIGS. 58( a) to 58(e) are sectional views which schematically show stepsin a method for producing an interposer 4100;

FIGS. 59( a) to 59(c) are sectional views which schematically showinterposers 4100 in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 60( a) and 60(b) are sectional views which schematically showsteps in a method for producing an interposer 4100 inside which a shieldmember 4035 (a shield layer) is provided;

FIG. 61 is a sectional view which schematically shows a construction ofan interposer 4100 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 62 is a sectional view which schematically shows a construction ofan interposer 4100 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 63 is an enlarged view of a substantial part of a U/L-shaped sidewiring 4020 in an interposer 4100′ of the present invention;

FIG. 64 is an enlarged view of a substantial part which shows solderingof the interposer 4100′ of FIG. 63 to a printed board 4060;

FIG. 65 is an enlarged view of a substantial part which shows solderingof an interposer 4100″ to a printed board 4060;

FIG. 66 is a sectional view which shows a construction wherein aninterposer 4100 of the present invention is mounted on a printed board4060 via a connector 4080; and

FIG. 67 is a perspective view schematically showing a conventionalmodule with a built-in component 2000.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to theattached drawings. In the drawings, elements which have substantiallythe same function are denoted by the same reference numeral in principlefor simplicity of description.

Embodiment 1

A connector sheet which is an embodiment of a connection member of thepresent invention is described as a first embodiment. FIG. 1 is aperspective view which schematically shows a connector sheet of thepresent invention and FIG. 2 shows a section where a U/L-shaped sidewiring 20, and lands 20 a and 20 b shown in FIG. 1, are placed. Theconnector sheet 100 of this embodiment has a sheet substrate 10 and aplurality of U/L-shaped side wirings 20. The sheet substrate 10 has anupper surface 10 a, a lower surface 10 b which is opposite to the uppersurface 10 a, and a side surface 10 c connecting the upper surface 10 aand the lower surface 10 b. One end portion 20 a (land) of theU/L-shaped side wiring 20 exists on the upper surface 10 a of the sheetsubstrate 10, the U/L-shaped side wiring 20 extends from the end portion20 a and passes the side surface 10 c of the sheet substrate 10 andreaches the lower surface 10 b, and the other end portion 20 b of thewiring 20 exists on the lower surface 10 b of the sheet substrate 10.

In this embodiment, both ends of the U/L-shaped side wiring 20 isconnected to the lands and the U/L-shaped side wiring 20 and the lands20 a and 20 are formed together. The upper surface 10 a (and the lowersurface 10 b) of the sheet substrate 10 is substantially flat. In theconnector sheet 100 shown in FIG. 1, the upper surface 10 a and thelower surface 10 b have substantially the same shape and they areconnected by the side surface 10 c vertical thereto. Therefore, shapesof the upper and the lower surfaces of the connector sheet 100 aredescribed as the shape of the upper surface 10 a for simplicity.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, electrical conduction between the uppersurface 10 a and the lower surface 10 b in the connector sheet 100 ofthis embodiment is made only by the U/L-shaped side wiring 20.Therefore, in the sheet substrate 10, a via is not formed forelectrically connecting the upper surface 10 a and the lower surface 10b.

In the specification, the term “via” is used as a generic term whichrefers to both of “inner via” and “through hole.” Although the terms“via” and “through hole” are generally used without being distinctlydistinguished from each other, the term “via” means a through bore whichelectrically connects wiring patterns and which is generally formed forconnecting the wiring patterns on both sides of an insulating layer of amultilayer board. The term “through hole” generally means a through borefor electrically connecting a wiring pattern on the upper surface to awiring pattern on the lower surface. Herein, the term “via” means a borewhich passes through a sheet substrate and serves to provide electricalconduction. The bore may be filled with a conductive material or coveredwith a thin film of the conductive material.

The U/L-shaped side wiring 20 may be formed of, for example, a copperfoil, and its thickness may be, for example, in a range of about 3 μm toabout 50 μm. The number of the U/L-shaped side wirings 20 is, forexample, eight or more. The connector sheet shown in FIG. 1 has eightU/L-shaped side wirings 20. In the illustrated configuration, ends oflands 20 a of the U/L-shaped side wirings 20 are arranged in line. Thearrangement of these ends of the U/L-shaped side wirings is not limitedto this and may be appropriately selected depending on arrangement ofterminals of wiring boards that are connected by the connector sheet100. For example, the lands 20 a and 20 b may be arranged in a grid, orarrangement patterns of the lands 20 a and 20 b may be different fromeach other.

The sheet substrate 10 is preferably formed of a material containing aresin. Thickness “T” of the sheet substrate 10 may be, for example, in arange of about 20 μm to 100 μm. In one embodiment, the thickness “T” ofthe sheet substrate 10 may be in a range of about 25 μm to about 50 μm.In one embodiment, the sheet substrate 10 is formed of a compositematerial containing a resin (for example, a thermosetting resin and/or athermoplastic resin) and an inorganic filler. The resin is preferably athermosetting resin. The sheet substrate 10 may be formed of only thethermosetting resin without using the inorganic filler. Thethermosetting resin may be, for example, an epoxy resin. When theinorganic filler is added, a filler of Al₂O₃, SiO₂, MgO, BN or AlN maybe used. By adding the inorganic filler, various properties of the sheetsubstrate 10 can be controlled. For this reason, the sheet substrate 10is preferably formed of the composite material containing the inorganicfiller.

The sheet substrate 10 in this embodiment is formed by folding a sheetcontaining a semi-cured resin and then completely curing this foldedsheet substrate of a semi-cured state. For representing this, anoverlapped plane which is created by folding the sheet is shown by adotted line 15. The resin is softened or melted to become a unified bodyupon curing completely and therefore the overlapped plane 15 may oftendisappear.

This connector sheet 100 may be disposed between two circuit boards 501and 502 (printed circuit boards) to connect them electrically, as shownin FIG. 3. In other words, FIG. 3 shows a mount assembly wherein the twocircuit boards are connected by the connector sheet. In each of thecircuit boards 501 and 502, wiring patterns 505 (conductor patterns) areformed and surface mount electronic components 310 and semiconductorchips 320 are mounted on the wiring patterns 505. It is noted that, inFIG. 3, the circuit boards 501 and 502 are illustrated in section so asto show through holes 510, while the connector sheet 100 is illustratednot in section but in a side external appearance.

The lands 20 a and 20 b which are terminals of the connector sheet 100may be connected to terminals of the circuit boards 501 and 502respectively with an electrical conductive material such as solder or aconductive adhesive. A resist may be formed on a surface of the sheetsubstrate of the connector sheet. The resist prevents the solder fromshort-circuiting. Alternatively, the connector sheet 100 can be closelyadhered (attached) to the circuit board 501 or 502. In that case,preferably at least one of the upper surface 10 a and the lower surface10 b of the sheet substrate 10 has adhesiveness, and more preferablyboth of the upper surface 10 a and the lower surface 10 b haveadhesiveness. The adhesiveness can be given by applying an adhesive on asurface of the connector sheet 100 or forming an adhesive layer on thesurface. Alternatively, as described below, the adhesiveness can begiven by forming the upper surface and/or the lower surface of the sheetsubstrate from a material which has tackiness under a first conditionand adhesiveness under a second condition. For convenience of handling,a releasing film (for example, a resin sheet such as a PE film, a PETfilm, a PES film or a PEN film) may be preferably attached to thisadhesive upper surface 10 a and/or adhesive lower surface 10 b.

Each of the circuit boards 501 and 502 shown in FIG. 3 is a double-sidedprinted wiring board which has two wiring pattern layers 505. A circuitboard connected to the connector sheet 100 is not limited to this. Forexample, multilayer printed wiring boards with four or more wiringpattern layers may be connected electrically by the connector sheet 100.Further, not only rigid wiring boards, but also flexible circuit boardsmay be electrically connected by the connector sheet 100. Alternatively,a flexible circuit board and a rigid circuit board may be electricallyconnected by the connector sheet 100.

In the mount assembly shown in FIG. 3, the connector sheet and thecircuit boards 501 and 502 may be connected by a conventional mountingtechnique. Further, a connection method for connecting the circuit board501 to the connector sheet 100 may be different from a connection methodfor connecting the circuit board 502 to the connector sheet 100. Forexample, the former may be a method wherein an anisotropic conductivefilm is employed, and the latter may be a reflow soldering method.

In the mount assembly shown in FIG. 3, there is a space (a gap) aroundthe connector sheet 100 which is sandwiched between the circuit boards501 and 502. This space may be filled with a filling material (forexample, a resin) by, for example, injecting the filling materialbetween the circuit boards 501 and 502. Alternatively, a sheet of thefilling material may be disposed around the connector sheet 100 andsandwiched between the circuit boards 501 and 502 so that the fillingmaterial fills around the connector sheet 100 simultaneously withconnection of two circuit boards with the connector sheet 100.

FIG. 4 shows a variation of the connector sheet shown in FIG. 1. Asshown in FIG. 4, lands 20 a connected to ends of U/L-shaped side wirings20 may be arranged in two lines in connector sheet 100. In the connectorsheet shown in FIG. 4, the U/L-shaped side wirings 20 extend on only oneside surface 10 c. In the connector sheet shown in FIG. 4, dummy wirings21 are provided which are not connected to either terminals 20 a or 20b. The dummy wiring 21 serves to even a wiring density.

In the connector sheet shown in FIG. 4, upper surface 10 a has a moreelongate shape compared to that in the connector sheet shown in FIG. 1.The number of the U/L-shaped side wirings 20 would not decreasesignificantly, even if the upper surface has such an elongate shape.This detail is described below.

In a case of a connector sheet wherein vias (or through holes) areformed for ensuring electrical conduction between an upper surface and alower surface, a shape of the upper surface of the connector sheet isadvantageously a square and disadvantageously elongate, if it is desiredthat more vias are formed. On the other hand, since the side surface 10c is utilized for forming the U/L-shaped side wiring 20 that ensureselectrical conduction in the connector sheet 100 of this embodiment, theelongate upper surface does not cause an adverse effect to formation ofmany U/L-shaped side wirings 20. In the connector sheet 100 of thisembodiment, the U/L-shaped side wirings 20 can be appropriately arrangedby determining a line-space (L/S) of the U/L-shaped side wirings 20.Therefore, many U/L-shaped side wirings 20 can be effectively providednot only in a substrate whose upper surface is a square but also in asubstrate whose upper surface is a rectangle (for example, a rectanglewhose long side is equal to or greater than 1.4 times a length of itsnarrow side). In other words, even if the upper surface 10 a of theconnector sheet 100 is either a square or an elongate shape (forexample, a rectangle, an ellipse or an oblong shape), the connectorsheet 100 can easily adapt to a trend of higher pin counts and finerpitch of a circuit board.

In the U/L-shaped side wiring, T/W is preferably at least 1, wherein “W”is a width of a side-surface wiring portion and “T” is a thickness ofthe sheet substrate (that is, a length of the side-surface wiringportion). T/W corresponds to an aspect ratio of a via. This range of T/Wis larger than an aspect ratio of a via which can be generally achieved.Also for this reason, the U/L-shaped side wirings 20 can be formed in alarger number compared to vias. In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and4, the width of the wiring 20 may be, for example, at most 0.25 mm and aspace between side-surface wiring portions of the wirings 20 may be atmost 0.3 mm.

In a case of a connector sheet wherein upper and the lower surfaces areelectrically connected with vias, it is difficult to change(particularly thicken) a thickness of the connector sheet. In otherwords, when the thickness is too large in the connector sheet with vias,the vias (through holes) having a high aspect ratio have to be formed,which makes it difficult to form the vias appropriately. For example,when a laser beam is used for perforation, a tapered via tends to beformed. On the other hand, when a drill is used for perforation, the viatends to curve or the drill may bend or break. In the connector sheet ofthe present invention, such problems can be avoided since formation ofvias is unnecessary. Therefore, the present invention can provide athick connector sheet.

Since the connector sheet 100 consists of the sheet substrate 10 and theU/L-shaped side wiring 20, there is no need to reserve aconnector-locating space (which prevents miniaturization of a device)when using the connector sheet, differently from using the stackingconnector as disclosed in Patent Kokai (Laid-Open) Publication No.8(1996)-228059(A). Further, the connector sheet 100 is thin, andtherefore it can contribute to thinning of a device. A shape and area ofthe connector sheet depend on a mounting space of a circuit board, andare not limited to those shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. For example, when theupper surface 10 a of the sheet substrate is a rectangle, the area maybe, for example, in a range of 5 to 1000 mm².

Further, the connector sheet 100 can be adhered to a circuit board sothat it is physically and electrically connected to the circuit board,particularly in a case where the connector sheet 100 contains an uncuredhardening resin. Therefore, the connector sheet 100 may be easilyadhered to a circuit board even if the circuit board is soft, such as, aflexible circuit board. This is an important characteristic of theconnector sheet of the present invention compared to the stackingconnector which is relatively difficult to be attached to a soft circuitboard (flexible circuit board).

In addition, the connector sheet can easily adapt to a fine pitch(and/or high pin counts). In that point, the connector sheet is moreadvantageous than the stacking connector. Specifically, when thestacking connector is used, it is actually very difficult to adapt to afine pitch of at most 0.3 mm, while the connector sheet 100 cansufficiently adapt to a fine pitch of at most 300 μm (preferably in arange of 100 μm to 300 μm).

Further, the connector sheet 100 is stable when subjected to atemperature cycle of a high temperature and a high humidity since itconnects circuit boards with the U/L-shaped side wiring 20, andrepresents a higher reliability compared to anisotropic conductive film(ACF). Further, difficulty in achieving both of conductivity andinsulation, which is seen in ACF, can be avoided in the connector sheet100.

Furthermore, the electrical conduction conferred by the connector sheet100 tends to be maintained even if the sheet substrate 10 deforms due tothermal expansion, since continuous single U/L-shaped side wiring 20ensures electrical conduction. To the contrary, a via connectionrequires contact between a land portion formed on upper and lowersurfaces and a via portion (a conductive paste portion or a platedportion). For this reason, connection may not be maintained, if the viaportion is out of contact with the land portion due to expansion of thesubstrate. Therefore, the connector sheet of the present invention has ahigher connection reliability compared to a connection member whichemploys a via connection.

As described above, the present invention can provide a new connectionmember (the connector sheet) which resolves the problem of theconventional connection members and adapts to a fine pitch.

Variants of the connector sheet of this embodiment are described withreference to FIGS. 5 to 9. FIG. 5 schematically shows a construction ofa connector sheet 200 wherein upper surface 10 a of sheet substrate 10is an L-shape. In the connector sheet 200 shown in FIG. 5, upper surface10 a and a lower surface 10 b have the same shape, and they areconnected by a vertical side surface 10 c. Therefore, a shape of theconnector sheet 200 is described by referring only to the shape of theupper surface 10 a for simplicity.

Also in the connector sheet 200 shown in FIG. 5, electrical conductionbetween the upper surface 10 a and the lower surface 10 b is ensured bya U/L-shaped side wiring. Therefore, even if the upper surface 10 a isan L-shape, a function of the connection member of the present inventioncan be sufficiently ensured. To the contrary, when electrical conductionis ensured by a via and surfaces (upper surface and lower surface) wherevias are formed are not a rectangle or a square, registration may bedifficult. Alternatively, if a connection member wherein vias have beenformed is machined into another shape, the vias may deform. Ananisotropic conductive film is generally difficult to be machined intoany form and such machining may reduce connection reliability, since thefilm is subjected to a thermocompression bonding process after mounting.

The connector sheet 200 shown in FIG. 5 may be formed by folding a sheetcontaining a semi-cured resin and then completely curing this foldedresin sheet of a semi-cured state. Folding may give a connector sheet ofsuch a shape, which is an advantageous characteristic of the presentinvention.

Connector sheet 200 which has a shape other than a rectangle, such as anL-shape may be attached to a circuit board (for example, a motherboard), thereby avoiding collision with a relatively tall electroniccomponent which has been mounted to the circuit board.

The connector sheets 200 shown in FIG. 5 may be combined to give aconstruction shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 6 shows a combination of two L-shapedconnector sheets 200. This embodiment can reduce unevenness of thicknessof the connector sheet 200. Further, an area enclosed by the connectorsheets 200 can be utilized. For example, an electronic component may bemounted in this area.

FIG. 7 shows a connector sheet 300 whose upper surface 10 a is arectangular frame. The connector sheet 300 shown in FIG. 7 has a shapewhich has an opening 40 in a center of sheet substrate 10. Also, thisconnector sheet 300 contributes to an increase in mounting areasimilarly to the configuration shown in FIG. 6, since a component can bemounted on an area of a circuit board, which area is exposed at theopening 40. This sheet substrate 10 of this shape may be obtained by,for example, punching a solid rectangular sheet substrate.

With reference to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, a connector sheet whose uppersurface 10 a of the sheet substrate 10 is an L-shape or a rectangularframe shape is described. The upper surface of the sheet substrate ofthe connector sheet may be a U-shape or a C-shape, or a shape having aconvex portion or a concave portion.

FIG. 8 shows a variant of the connector sheet 300 shown in FIG. 7. In aconnector sheet 350 shown in FIG. 8, a side-surface portion of aU/L-shaped side wiring 20 is situated on a side surface 10 c which is aninner wall of an opening 40 of a sheet substrate 10 having a rectangularframe shape. It should be noted that this side surface 10 c is a sidesurface which connects an upper surface 10 a and a lower surface 10 b.Further, a shield layer 45 (for example, a metal shield layer) is formedon outer circumferential surface of the sheet substrate 10. A shieldfunction of this shield layer 45 can reduce noise. The connector sheetshown in FIG. 8 can be formed by making a slit in a center and foldingslit portions.

A connector sheet 100 shown in FIG. 9 is a variant of the connectorsheet shown in FIG. 1, wherein an upper surface 10 a is an approximaterectangle having long sides 10L and narrow sides 10S, and U/L-shapedside wirings 20 are situated on two side surfaces adjacent the longsides. In the upper surface 10 a, a length of the long side 10L is equalto or greater than 1.4 times a length of the narrow side 10S. In theconnector sheet 100, a land 20 a which is a terminal is a square land.Such a square land may substitute for a round land which is provided inany of other connector sheets shown in other drawings. This illustratedconnector sheet may have U/L-shaped side wirings which are placed onside surfaces adjacent the narrow side 10S, whereby more lands 20 a canbe arranged.

Next, a method for producing the connector sheet 100 is described withreference to FIGS. 10 and 11( a)-13(b).

FIG. 10 schematically shows a sectional construction of the connectorsheet 100 produced by a production method shown in FIGS. 11( a) to13(b). This connector sheet has wiring patterns 30 as electricalelements on an upper surface 10 a and a lower surface 10 b of a sheetsubstrate 10, and U/L-shaped side wiring 20 is formed as a part of thewiring patterns 30. The U/L-shaped side wiring 20 has an upper-surfacewiring portion 20-1, a lower-surface wiring portion 20-2 and aside-surface wiring portion 20-3. In FIG. 10, an overlapped plane of asheet 15 is indicated by a dotted line 11 for easily understanding thatthe sheet substrate 10 is formed by folding the sheet 15. In FIG. 10,“t” corresponds to a thickness of the sheet 15.

The production method shown in FIGS. 11( a) to 13(b) corresponds to afirst production method. Specifically, FIGS. 11( a) to 11(d) show step(1-A) of forming a sheet “A” including a wiring pattern and aninsulating layer containing a semi-cured resin. FIG. 12( a) shows step(1-B) of folding the sheet “A”, and FIG. 12( b) shows step (1-C) ofcuring resin in the semi-cured state.

The sheet “A” may be produced by a method including steps of:

(1-a) preparing a laminate which includes a carrier sheet and a metallayer formed thereon;

(1-b) processing the metal layer so as to form a wiring layer having atleast one wiring; and

(1-c) forming an insulating layer containing a semi-cured resin on thewiring layer. The method shown in FIGS. 11( a)-11(d) further includes astep of removing the carrier sheet.

Firstly, the step (1-a) of preparing the laminate is performed, as shownin FIG. 11( a), by preparing a carrier sheet 50 which has a metal layer32 formed on one surface thereof. The metal layer 32 may be formed of,for example, a copper foil, and the carrier sheet 50 may be formed of,for example, a metal foil (for example, a copper foil or an aluminumfoil) or a resin sheet. Thicknesses of the metal layer 32 and thecarrier sheet 50 may be, for example, in a range of about 3 μm to about50 μm and in a range of about 25 μm to about 200 μm, respectively.Various laminates suitable for this laminate are known for producing acircuit board.

The metal layer 32 (that is, U/L-shaped side wiring 20) may bepreferably formed from an electrolytic copper foil (an ED foil). Theelectrolytic copper foil has a uniform thickness, which is advantageousto formation of the wiring layer. Further, the U/L-shaped side wiring 20can be formed uniformly from the electrolytic copper foil, which isadvantageous to an impedance control.

Next, the step (1-b) of processing the metal layer 32 of the laminatemay be performed by any appropriate known method. As shown in FIG. 11(b), a patterning step is known as a step for forming predeterminedwiring layer 30 (or a wiring layer having a wiring pattern). This stepmay be performed by, for example, an etching process wherein a mask isused.

Next, the insulating layer is formed in the step (1-c). As shown in FIG.11( c), insulating layer 15 is formed by applying resin to the carriersheet 50 so that the layer 15 covers the wiring layer 30. The resin maybe an electrically insulating thermosetting resin and/or an electricallyinsulating thermoplastic resin. A semi-cured hardening resin isparticularly preferably used and a semi-cured thermosetting resin ismore particularly preferably used. The resin may contain a filler asdescribed above. Thickness “t” of the insulating layer 15 may be, forexample, in a range of about 50 μm to 100 μm.

For example, a composite material containing a thermosetting resin in aB-stage state and an inorganic filler may be applied to the carriersheet 50. In one embodiment, the composite material may contain at least100 parts by weight (preferably 140 to 180 parts by weight) of theinorganic filler to 100 parts by weight of the thermosetting resin. The“B-stage state” means a state wherein a hardening reaction stops at amiddle stage. Resin in the B-stage state is once softened (or melted)and then completely hardened by further being heated. This completelyhardened state is referred to as a “C-stage.”

Addition of Al₂O₃, BN or AlN as the inorganic filler may improve athermal conductivity of the connector sheet. Further, it is possible toadjust a thermal expansion coefficient by selecting an appropriateinorganic filler. A resin component has a relatively large thermalexpansion coefficient. Addition of SiO₂ or AlN can reduce a thermalexpansion coefficient of the insulating layer (the sheet substrate ofthe connector sheet). Alternatively, addition of MgO may improve thermalconductivity and increase a thermal expansion coefficient of theinsulating layer. The addition of SiO₂ (particularly an amorphous SiO₂)can reduce a dielectric constant of the insulating layer as well as thethermal expansion coefficient.

Next, as shown in FIG. 11( d), the carrier sheet 50 is removed and thesheet 15 having the wiring layer 30 is obtained before a folding step.In the illustrated production method, a next folding step is performedafter removing the carrier sheet. Alternatively, the folding step may beperformed without removing the carrier sheet, and then the carrier sheetmay be removed.

In the step (1-B), a construction as shown in FIG. 12( a) is obtained byfolding the sheet 15. In the illustrated embodiment, the sheet 15 isfolded in half. That is, the insulating layer 15 is folded such thatparts thereof are opposed to and contact each other on a plane indicatedby dotted line 11, and portions 20-1 and 20-2 of at least one wiring 20constituting the wiring pattern become an upper-surface wiring portionand a lower-surface wiring portion, which face each other across theinsulating layer 15, and another portion 20-3 of the at least one wiring20 becomes a side-surface wiring portion which extends on a side surfaceof folded insulating layer 15. Therefore, the wiring 20 consisting ofthe upper-surface wiring portion 20-1, the lower-surface wiring portion20-2 and the side-surface wiring portion 20-3 constitutes at least onewiring which extends from an upper surface to a lower surface of theinsulating layer 15 through a side surface of the insulating layer 15,that is, a U/L-shaped side wiring. The sheet may be folded so that theside surface where the U/L-shaped side wiring 20 is positioned is acurve face, and such folding is easier than folding at a right angle asshown in FIG. 12( a).

Next, the structure shown in FIG. 12( a) is heated and pressurized inthe step (1-C) so that it is completely cured, whereby overlappedportions of the insulating layer become one sheet substrate 10 as shownin FIG. 12( b) and the connector sheet 100 of the present invention isobtained. In a state as shown in FIG. 12( b), the sheet substrate 10 iscompletely hardened into the C-stage state. When the resin isthermoplastic, it becomes a hardened state by merely cooling afterheating and pressurizing. In FIGS. 10 and 12( b), contact plane 11 ofthe insulating layer is indicated, although the plane may not existdistinctly after curing.

If necessary, the step (1-C) may be performed after the structureproduced by conducting the steps up to the step (1-B) is connected to acircuit board or an electronic component. That is, the connection membermay be completed at the same time as connection of the connection memberto the circuit board or the electronic component. Such a productionmethod is preferably performed when adhesiveness of an uncured resin isutilized for connection or when tackiness of the uncured resin isutilized for temporarily connecting the connection member to the circuitboard for examination as described below with reference FIG. 21. Atechnique wherein a curing step of the insulating layer is performed atthe same time as, or later than, a connection step of the connectionmember to the circuit board, may be applied not only to production ofthe connector sheet of the first production method, but also to anotherproduction method.

The connector sheet 100 may take different constructions depending on amanner of folding the sheet 15. For example, the sheet 15 may be foldedat two positions as shown in FIG. 13( a) and then heated andpressurized. As a result, a connector sheet is obtained whereinU/L-shaped side wirings exist on two side surfaces as shown in FIG. 13(b). Also in FIG. 13( b), a contact plane of an insulating layer isindicated by the dotted line, however an overlapped plane may not existdistinctly after curing.

As described above, vias do not need to be formed in the connector sheetof the present invention, which eliminates a limitation to material ofthe sheet substrate, which limitation is involved in via processingemploying a punch or laser. Therefore, it is possible to mix a fillerwhich hardly absorbs a laser beam (such as a glass or a silica) into amaterial for the sheet substrate (that is a material for the insulatinglayer). As a result, such a filler can be used to adjust a property(such as a thermal conductivity and a thermal expansion coefficient) ofmaterial for the sheet substrate. Further, a via connection with aconductive paste generally requires optimization of a viscosity ofmaterial for the insulating layer so as to stabilize a via shape, whichlimits material of the insulating layer. On the contrary, suchlimitation is not imposed upon production of the connector sheet of thepresent invention and an appropriate resin can be relatively freelyselected.

Further, the method for producing a connector sheet of the presentinvention can simplify production procedures and reduce production costsince a via forming process which requires a high precision can beomitted. In addition, since apparatuses such as a puncher and laserequipment are not required, the production cost is reduced in thispoint. Further, since the connector sheet is formed by folding a sheetwhich has a wiring layer and an insulating layer formed thereon, it isnot necessary to perform registration of positions of lands on upper andlower surfaces of the connection member, which registration is requiredin a via connection. Further, in the production method of the presentinvention, it is not necessary to perform a step of registering a viaand a land, which step is conducted in a method for producing aconnection member with a via.

The U/L-shaped side wiring 20 on a surface of the sheet substrate 10 isentirely embedded in the surface of the sheet substrate 10 by forming,through the steps shown in FIGS. 11 to 12, the wiring pattern 30including the wiring 20 which is to be the U/L-shaped side wiring. Thatis schematically shown in FIG. 19 which is an enlarged perspective viewof a part of the sheet substrate. That is, as illustrated in FIG. 19,top surface 20 f (an exposed surface) of the wiring 20 is substantiallyflush with a surface (for example, a side surface 10 c) of the sheetsubstrate 10. This configuration of the U/L-shaped side wirings 20suppresses breakage or damage of the wiring 20 and thereby increasesreliability of the wiring 20 more effectively as compared with aconfiguration wherein the wiring 20 (particularly a corner portion 20 c)is protruded from the surface of the sheet substrate.

Further, as shown in FIG. 18, when exposed surface 20 f of theU/L-shaped side wiring 20 is located at a position which is concave fromthe side surface 10 c of the sheet substrate 10 and thereby locatedinside the sheet substrate 10, a possibility of contact between theexposed surface 20 f and an external thing is significantly reduced,whereby breakage and damage of the U/L-shaped side wiring 20 can beeffectively reduced. Particularly, the corner portion 20 c of theU/L-shaped side wiring 20 preferably dents in relative to the surface ofthe sheet substrate (or an edge) as shown in FIG. 18 from a viewpoint ofprotection of the wiring, since the corner portion 20 c tends to contactthe external thing. Therefore, exposed surfaces of the upper-surfacewiring portion and/or a lower-surface wiring portion of the U/L-shapedside wiring 20 are preferably disposed at positions concave from thesurfaces of the sheet substrate, as shown in FIG. 18.

The configuration as shown in FIG. 18, wherein the top (or the exposed)surface 20 f of the wiring 20 sinks in relative to the side surface 10 cof the sheet substrate 10 and a step 10 d is formed, may be realized bythe following method. Firstly, in a step of forming the wiring layer 30shown in FIG. 11( b), a concavity is formed in the carrier sheet 50 byetching away, in addition to an unnecessary portion (that is, a portionwhich does not form the wiring pattern) of the metal layer 32, a portionof the carrier sheet 50 (for example, a metal sheet) which is beneaththe unnecessary portion of the metal layer 32. Next, a step of applyingresin material (for example, a composite material) for forming theinsulating layer is performed as shown in FIG. 11( d) to provide a sheetwherein the resin material goes over the surface of the wiring layer 30(that is, a contact plane between the metal layer and the carrier sheet)and enters into the concavity in the carrier sheet 50. This sheet isfolded and then heated and pressurized. The carrier sheet issubsequently removed, resulting in the step 10 d between the surface ofthe sheet substrate 10 and exposed surface of the U/L-shaped side wiring20. This method makes it possible to form step 10 d whose heightcorresponds to a depth of the concavity formed in the carrier sheet.

In a case where the second production method is employed, it is possibleto apply a resin or a film, for protecting the U/L-shaped side wiring20, to the sheet substrate 10 except for a portion where the wiring isdisposed, in order to make a step between the top surface 20 f of theU/L-shaped side wiring 20 and the surface of the sheet substrate 10 orto make the top surface 20 f flush with the surface of the sheetsubstrate 10.

In a case where the exposed surface 20 f of the U/L-shaped side wiring20 dents from the surface of the connector sheet, a part of a wiringpattern on a circuit board, which part is connected to the connectorsheet, may be preferably protruded from a surface of the circuit board.This protruded portion of the wiring pattern on the circuit board andthe exposed surface 20 f (top surface) of the wiring 20 which is locatedat a sunken position can be contacted with each other by fitting in, andthereby connection reliability is improved. The wiring pattern on thecircuit board may be protruded from the surface of the circuit board bya subtractive method (for example, a method wherein a copper foil isetched away) or an additive method (for example, a method wherein aconductive metal is deposited on an insulating substrate by electrolessplating).

In the connector sheet 100 of the present invention, the U/L-shaped sidewirings 20 may be a coplanar line. This makes it possible to constitutea connector sheet which is suitable for a high-speed signal wiring. Morespecifically, as shown in FIG. 20, when U/L-shaped side wiring 20 s isformed as a signal line and U/L-shaped side wirings 20 g are formed asground lines on both sides of signal line 20 s, they form a coplanarconstruction. This construction controls a characteristic impedance andavoids a problem of impedance mismatch between a via and wiring, whichproblem occurs in a connection member with a via.

In the above, the connector sheet wherein the insulating substrate isthe sheet substrate is described as one embodiment of the presentinvention. It should be noted that the above description is applicableto other connection members of other embodiments.

Embodiment 2

Next, an embodiment of a mount assembly which is constructed by theconnector sheet of the present invention and a circuit board isdescribed below.

FIG. 14 shows a mount assembly wherein two circuit boards (for example,printed circuit boards) 503 and 504 are connected in a directionparallel to a principal surface by the connector sheet 100 of the firstembodiment. The connector sheet 100 is disposed between the circuitboards 503 and 504 as shown in FIG. 14, and electrically connects them.

In the mount assembly shown in FIG. 14, each of the circuit boards 503and 504 has wiring patterns 505 (conductor patterns). Each wiringpattern 505 is also formed on at least a part of a side surface of eachof the circuit boards 503 and 504. Further, a surface mount electroniccomponent 310 and a semiconductor chip 320 are mounted on the wiringpatterns 505.

In this mount assembly, a side-surface wiring portion of U/L-shaped sidewiring 20, which is located on one side surface of the connector sheet100, is connected to the wiring which is located on the side surface ofthe circuit board 503. This U/L-shaped side wiring 20 forms a wiringpattern on an upper or lower surface of the sheet substrate so that itis connected to another U/L-shaped side wiring 20″ located on anotherside surface. The U/L-shaped side wiring 20″ is connected to a wiringlocated on a side surface of the circuit board 504. Therefore, thecircuit boards 503 and 504 are electrically connected by the connectorsheet 100.

In the mount assembly shown in FIG. 14, the connector sheet 100 and eachof the circuit boards may be connected utilizing adhesiveness of thesheet substrate of the connector sheet 100. In that case, the connectorsheet 100 containing a semi-cured resin is connected to the circuitboards and then the resin is completely cured into a completed mountassembly.

FIGS. 15 a and 15 b show a method for electrically connecting an uppersurface and a lower surface of a double-sided printed wiring board 500by using a connector sheet 101 whose section is a U-shape.

The connector sheet 101 shown in FIG. 15( a) has a concave portion onthe upper surface, and a side surface of the printed wiring board 500can fit in the concave portion. In FIGS. 15( a) and 15(b), dotted linesshow overlapped planes which are formed by folding a sheet containing asemi-cured resin layer in order to produce the connector sheet 101. Inthe connector sheet 101, U/L-shaped side wirings 20′ and 20″ also extendinner surfaces which define the concave portion.

When the printed board 500 is fitted in the connector sheet 101,electrical conduction between the upper surface and the lower surface ofthe printed board 500 can be ensured by the connector sheet 101, asshown in FIG. 15( b). More specifically, a wiring pattern 505′ formed onone surface of the printed board 500 is connected to the U/L-shaped sidewiring 20′ which extends on an inner side surface of the concave portionof the connector sheet. The U/L-shaped side wiring 20′ is connected to awiring pattern 30 formed on a lower surface of the connector sheet 101.The wiring pattern 30 is connected to the U/L-shaped side wiring 20″which extends on another side surface. The U/L-shaped side wiring 20″further extends on an inner side surface of a corner portion to beconnected to a wiring pattern 505″ formed on another surface of theprinted board 500. Therefore, this construction makes it possible to usea cheaper double-sided printed board 500 which has no through holes orvias, or to reduce a production cost of the double-sided printed board500. Alternatively, a multilayer printed board having three or morewiring layers can be fitted in the concave portion of the connectorsheet. Alternatively, a double-sided or a multilayer printed board whichhas through holes or vias can be fitted in the concave portion of theconnector sheet.

The mount assembly of this construction may be produced by a methodwhich includes steps of:

preparing a sheet which includes a wiring layer having at least onewiring, and an insulating layer containing a semi-cured resin;

bending (or folding) the sheet so that the insulating layer forms aconcave portion, with parts of the insulating layer facing each otherand portions of the at least one wiring facing each other across theinsulating layer, with another portion of the at least one wiringextending on a side surface of the insulating layer which is formed by abent part of the insulating layer, and with still another portion of theat least one wiring extending on an inner side surface of the concaveportion;

closely fitting a side surface of a circuit board wherein wiringpatterns are formed on both of an upper surface and lower surface, intothe concave portion; and

curing the resin contained in the insulating layer of the bent sheet.

In other words, the mount assembly can be produced by 1) bending thesheet “A” described in connection with the first embodiment so that thesheet “A” forms a concave portion and the U/L-shaped side wiring alsoextends an inside surface of the concave portion, 2) fitting adouble-sided circuit board within the concave portion so that thecircuit board closely contacts the concave portion, and 3) curing theinsulating layer of the sheet “A.” This method allows the concaveportion to be formed depending on a size of a side surface of thecircuit board and enables the circuit board and the connector sheet tobe connected integrally by using the adhesiveness of an uncuredinsulating layer, whereby good electrical and physical connectionbetween the circuit board and the connector sheet can be ensured.

Another mount assembly is shown in FIGS. 16( a) and 16(b). FIGS. 16( a)and 16(b) show a method for producing a mount assembly by fabricatingconnector sheet 100 and electrically connecting circuit boards 506 and507 at the same time.

FIG. 16( a) shows a sheet 15 having a wiring pattern 30 formed thereon(see FIG. 11( d)), and circuit boards 506 and 507 having wiring patterns505. The wiring pattern 30 contains a portion that is to be a U/L-shapedside wiring 20. Portions of the wiring pattern 30 of the sheet arecontacted with portions (preferably portions at a peripheral area) ofthe wiring patterns 505 of the circuit boards 506 and 507. Next, thecircuit boards 506 and 507 are moved so that they are substantiallyparallel and the sheet 15 is bent. Further, a portion containing thesheet 15 is completely cured by being heated and pressurized, therebyresulting in the mount assembly shown in FIG. 16( b). As illustrated inFIGS. 16( a) and 16(b), the sheet 15 becomes the connector sheet 100which has the U/L-shaped side wiring 20. The connector sheet 100previously connects the circuit boards 506 and 507 electrically beforeit is produced, and therefore, after it is produced.

Further, another mount assembly is shown in FIGS. 17( a) and 17(b).FIGS. 17( a) and 17(b) show a method for connecting two circuit boards506 and 507 using a connector sheet wherein exposed surfaces of anupper-surface wiring portion and a lower-surface wiring portion of aU/L-shaped side wiring 20 are located inside relative to surfaces of theconnector sheet as shown in FIG. 18.

FIG. 17( a) shows an arrangement of the circuit boards 506 and 507 andconnector sheet 100. The connector sheet 100 is disposed between thecircuit boards 506 and 507 so that protruded electrodes 505 on thecircuit boards 506 and 507 coincide with U/L-shaped side wirings 20. Asshown in FIG. 17( b), the electrodes 505 are fitted in concave portionsformed by the U/L-shaped side wirings 20 and sheet substrate 10.Thereby, the electrodes 505 and the U/L-shaped side wirings 20 areelectrically connected and the circuit boards 506 and 507 are connectedthrough the U/L-shaped side wirings 20. In this manner, electricalconnection between the connection member and the circuit boards may beobtained easily and surely by using the connection member wherein theU/L-shaped side wirings form the concave portions, and connectingprotruded portions (protruded electrodes in FIGS. 17( a) and 17(b))formed in a wiring pattern of the circuit boards with this concaveportion.

Embodiment 3

Next, a connector sheet of another embodiment is described. In a casewhere the connection member of the present invention is provided as theconnector sheet, the connector sheet may be constructed so that is hastackiness under a certain condition, and adhesiveness under anothercondition. Herein, a connector sheet having both of tackiness andadhesiveness is described.

For describing such a connector sheet, FIG. 1 is referred to forconvenience. In connector sheet 100 of this embodiment, both of uppersurface 10 a and lower surface 10 b have tackiness under a firstcondition and adhesiveness under a second condition different from thefirst condition. Herein the first condition may be, for example, atemperature condition in a range of 0° C. to 80° C. More specifically,the first condition may mean that the upper surface 10 a and the lowersurface 10 b are subjected to a temperature in this temperature range.The temperature of the first condition may be typically room temperature(for example, between about 10° C. and about 40° C.) and may be about atleast 50° C. in order to enhance the tackiness. The second condition maybe a condition under which a hardening reaction of a materialconstituting the upper surface 10 a and the lower surface 10 b proceeds.The meanings of “tackiness” and “adhesiveness” are as described above.

The upper surface 10 a and the lower surface 10 of the sheet substrate10 may be formed of a material selected form (a) a mixture of a siliconeresin and a thermosetting resin, (b) a mixture of a thermoplastic resinand a thermosetting resin, and (c) an ultraviolet curing resin and athermosetting resin. Alternatively, the upper surface 10 a and the lowersurface 10 b may be constituted by a mixture of two or more materialsselected from (a), (b) and (c).

The material (a) is a mixture system of silicone resin/thermosettingresin. In this mixture system, the silicone resin provides the tackinessand the thermosetting resin provides the adhesiveness. The material (b)is a mixture system of thermoplastic resin and thermosetting resin. Inthis mixture system, the thermosetting in a liquid state swells thesolid thermosetting resin to provide the tackiness and the thermosettingresin provides the adhesiveness. The material (c) is a mixture system ofUV curing resin and thermosetting resin. In this mixture system,pregelation of the UV curing resin provides the tackiness and thethermosetting resin provides the adhesiveness. As to the tackiness ofthe material (c), more specifically, a surface of the sheet substrateformed of the material (c) is cured (pre-cured, not post cured) by beingirradiated with UV so as to pregelate, whereby the tackiness isgenerated on the surface.

The upper and lower surfaces 10 a and 10 b may be formed of anothermaterial as long as the material has tackiness and adhesiveness asdescribed above. For example, a material having a combination oftackiness and adhesiveness may be realized by using only a thermoplasticresin (or substantially only a thermoplastic resin). That is, in a casewhere a system obtained by adding a solvent to a thermoplastic resinhaving a sufficiently high softening point is employed, the tackiness isprovided by adding the solvent which softens the thermoplastic resin,and the adhesiveness is provided by vaporizing the solvent at a hightemperature and then cooling the thermoplastic resin so as to solidifythe resin. However, since an adhered portion may be separated in a hightemperature region wherein the thermoplastic resin melts, it isdesirable to take an appropriate measure so as to maintain reliabilityat this high temperature. For example, a hardening resin such as athermosetting resin dissolved in a solvent is effectively added in amaterial system whose main component is thermoplastic resin.

An adhesion treatment for any material system may be performed usingheat, light, water, air, solvent, or an electronic beam. Adhesion may beachieved more strongly and stably by optionally applying pressure duringthe adhesion.

The connector sheet may have a new function of reparability due to thetackiness and the adhesiveness exhibited under different conditions bythe upper and the lower surfaces of the sheet substrate. This isdescribed with reference to FIGS. 21( a) to 21(c).

FIGS. 21( a) to 21(c) show a method for electrically connecting circuitboards using a connector sheet 100. Herein, the connector sheet 100 isexemplified, wherein sheet substrate 10 is formed of a mixture of asilicone resin, an epoxy resin (a thermosetting resin) and an inorganicfiller. The silicone resin mainly confers tackiness, while the epoxyresin mainly confers adhesiveness. The inorganic filler serves tocontrol a thermal expansion coefficient after adhesion. The inorganicfiller may be, for example, Al₂O₃, SiO₂, or MgO.

As shown in FIG. 21( a), the connector sheet 100 is disposed above acircuit board 511 on which electronic components (310, 311, 311′) aremounted. The connector sheet has tackiness under a first condition andadhesiveness under a second condition, as described above.

In FIG. 21( a), the circuit board 511 may be, for example, a rigid board(a typical printed board). On the circuit board 511, a circuit patternis formed and the electronic components (310, 311, and 311′) areelectrically connected to the circuit pattern. The electronic component310 is a semiconductor integrated circuit chip (for example, a surfacemount IC), and the electronic components 311 and 311′ are, for example,surface mount components such as a chip capacitor, a chip inductor, anda chip resistor.

Next, as shown in FIG. 21( b), the connector sheet 100 is attached tothe circuit board 511 at a predetermined position under the firstcondition and they are closely contacted with each other by thetackiness of the connector sheet 100. The first condition is apredetermined temperature condition selected from a temperature rangebetween room temperature and 80° C. Since electrical conduction betweenan upper surface and a lower surface of the connector sheet 100 isensured by U/L-shaped side wiring 20, the connector sheet 100 may bemerely adhered to the circuit board 511. Therefore, the electricalconduction can be made without compressing the connector sheet 100,differently from connection using an anisotropic conductive film.

Next, a circuit board 512 which is to be connected electrically to thecircuit board 511 is moved to a position near the connector sheet 100.Then, as shown in FIG. 21( c), the circuit board 512 is disposed on theconnector sheet 100 and the circuit board 512 is closely adhered to thecircuit board 512 using the tackiness of the connector sheet 100. As aresult, the circuit boards 511 and 512 are electrically connected toeach other through the connector sheet 100. The circuit board 512 is aflexible circuit board and may be formed of a polyimide. A circuitpattern is also formed on the circuit board 512 and an electroniccomponent (such as a surface mount component) may be mounted on thecircuit pattern (not shown).

Next, an electrical connection between the circuit boards 511 and 512 isexamined in a state as shown in FIG. 21( c). This examination may beperformed by checking an electrical resistance between the circuitboards 511 and 512 and testing automatically with, for example, ascanner or a multimeter. When this examination shows good electricalconnection, the connector sheet 100 and the circuit boards 511 and 512are adhered under the second condition (which is achieved by raisingtemperature). A temperature condition as the second condition may be,for example, at least 140° C. (preferably, in a range of 150° C. to 170°C.). When the connector sheet 100 is subjected to the second condition,it functions as an adhesive to provide a permanent fixation of thecircuit boards 511 and 512.

When this examination shows poor electrical connection, at least one ofthe circuit boards 511 and 512 is removed so as to release adhesionbetween the connector sheet and the at least one of the circuit boards511 and 512. More specifically, since the connector sheet 100 is adheredto the circuit boards 511 and 512 by its tackiness and can be peeled offunder the first condition, repair (exchange of a component) can beeasily performed according to a bad result of the examination.

Alternatively, when the examinations show poor electrical connection andthere is no problem in the circuit board itself, the steps shown inFIGS. 21( a) to 21(c) are repeated again so as to electrically connectthe circuit boards. The examination may be performed again and then amount assembly including two circuit boards may be obtained.

In a case where the connector sheet 100 is required to be removed afterreaching the state shown in FIG. 21( c), a technique of lowering thetemperature may be employed in order to reduce the tackiness of theconnector sheet 100. In a case where the temperature (the firstcondition) at which attachment of the connector sheet 100 is performedusing its tackiness, is in a range of room temperature to 80° C., anambient temperature may be lowered below room temperature (for example,below 0° C., and preferably in a range of −10° C. to −20° C.) in orderto reduce the tackiness. Alternatively, the connector sheet 100 may bepreferably formed such that the tackiness disappears under a thirdcondition that is a temperature condition lower than the temperaturecondition of the first condition under which the tackiness is exhibited.

The connector sheet having tackiness and adhesiveness enables repair tobe performed easily. To the contrary, when connection is made by ananisotropic conductive film, a conduction test can be performed afterthe anisotropic conductive film has been compressed to be connected to acircuit board completely. For this reason, when the test shows poorconduction, it is impossible to perform repair. That is, in a case of apoor connection, the mount assembly in its entirety including thecircuit board should be discarded. Since it is possible to perform therepair by using the connector sheet 100 having tackiness andadhesiveness, the number of components and products which are discardedcan be significantly reduced, which contributes to cost reduction.Therefore, the connector sheet 100 having tackiness and adhesivenessmakes it possible to produce a mount assembly including a circuit boardat a lower cost.

A sheet substrate of the connector sheet having tackiness andadhesiveness may be formed of only the material as described above ormay be formed of a layer of the material as described above and a layerof another material. The sheet substrate of a plurality of layers mayhave a construction consisting of a central layer and an upper layer anda lower layer which sandwich the central layer. In that case, the upperand the lower layers are formed of a material having tackiness andadhesiveness. Material for the central layer may be a polyimide.Alternatively, the central layer may be a woven fabric, a non-wovenfabric or a resin sheet. The upper layer and the lower layer may beformed by applying an adhesive which has tackiness and adhesiveness. Theupper layer may be formed of a material different from that of the lowermaterial so that the tackiness of the upper surface is different fromthat of the lower surface.

In a case where the upper surface and the lower surface of the sheetsubstrate have tackiness and adhesiveness, a releasing film may beattached to either or both of the upper and lower surfaces. Theconnector sheet can be easily handled by attachment of the releasingfilm. The releasing film is removed, for example, before attaching theconnector sheet to a circuit board.

Embodiment 4

Next, a connection member wherein an insulating substrate is formed of acore layer and an insulating layer is described as another embodiment ofthe connection member of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a perspective view schematically showing a construction of aconnection member 2100 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 23 is a schematic sectional view of the connectionmember shown in FIG. 22. The connection member 2100 shown in FIGS. 22and 23 has an electrically insulating layer 2101, a plurality ofU/L-shaped side wirings 2102 and a core member 2103. The insulatinglayer 2101 consists of an upper-surface portion 2101 a, a lower-surfaceportion 2101 b opposed to the upper-surface portion 2101 a, and aside-surface portion 2102 c which connects the upper-surface portion2101 a and the lower-surface portion 2101 b. One end of U/L-shaped sidewiring 2102 exists at a predetermined position on the upper-surfaceportion 2101 a of the insulating layer 2101 and therefrom passes on theside-surface portion 2101 c of the insulating layer 2101 and terminatesat a predetermined position on the lower-surface portion 2101 b.

In this embodiment, each of the upper-surface portion 2101 a, thelower-surface portion 2101 b and the side-surface portion 2101 c of theinsulating layer is substantially flat and has an approximatelyrectangular shape. These portions have upper-surface wiring portion2102A, lower-surface wiring portion 2102B, and side-surface wiringportion 2102C, respectively, and these wiring portions are integrallyconnected to form the U/L-shaped side wirings 2102.

Also in the connection member 2100 of this embodiment, electricalconduction between the upper-surface portion 2101 a and thelower-surface portion 2101 b of the insulating layer 2101 is made by theU/L-shaped side wirings 2102. More specifically, also in thisembodiment, the U/L-shaped side wiring 2102 serves to make electricalconduction between the upper-surface portion 2101 a and thelower-surface portion 2101 b of the insulating layer 2101, andtherefore, a via for making electrical conduction between theupper-surface portion 2101 a and the lower-surface portion 2101 b is notformed in the insulating layer 2101 and the core member 2103. Thus, avia is not required in this connection member 2100.

In one embodiment, the insulating layer 2101 of the connection member2100 may be formed of a composite material containing a resin (forexample, a thermosetting resin and/or a thermoplastic resin) and aninorganic filler. In that case, the thermosetting resin is preferablyused as the resin. The electrical insulating layer may be formed of onlythe thermosetting resin without the inorganic filler. In a case wherethe inorganic filler is added to the resin, a filler of Al₂O₃, SiO₂,MgO, BN or AlN may be used. By adding the inorganic filler, variousproperties of the insulating layer 2101 can be controlled. For thisreason, the insulating layer 2101 is preferably formed of the compositematerial containing the inorganic filler. The change of the property(thermal conductivity and the like) caused by adding the inorganicfiller is as described in connection with the connector sheet of thefirst embodiment, and therefore, a detail thereof is omitted. Further, asolder resist may be formed on a surface of the insulating layer 2101.

The U/L-shaped side wiring 2102 may be formed of any appropriatematerial, for example, a copper foil. A thickness of the U/L-shaped sidewiring 2102 may be in a range of, for example, about 3 μm to about 50μm. The U/L-shaped side wiring 20 may be formed by etching a copper foilin a conventional manner as described in connection with the firstembodiment.

In the construction shown in FIG. 22, terminals (lands) 2102 a, whichare electrical elements connected to end portions of the U/L-shaped sidewirings 2102 are arranged on the upper surface potion 2101 a of theinsulating layer 2101. That is, in the illustrated embodiment, terminals2102 a are arranged corresponding to a terminal arrangement of a board(such as a mother board) or an electronic component which is to beelectrically connected to the connection member 2100. Similarly,terminals 2102 b (lands) connected to other end portions of theU/L-shaped side wirings 2102 are arranged on the lower-surface portion2101 b of the insulating layer 2101 corresponding to a circuit board oran electronic component which is to be connected to the connectionmember 2100.

For example, the electrical elements may be arranged on thelower-surface portion 2101 b of the insulating layer 2101 in a zigzag(see FIG. 25) or a grid, and they may be connected to a portion (forexample, an end portion) of the U/L-shaped side wiring. Lands as theelectrical elements may be arranged in a land grid array (LGA), or maybe a ball grid array (BGA) by mounting solder balls that are electricalelements. Each electrical element may be subjected to a surfacetreatment such as solder plating or tin plating, which facilitatesmounting of the board or the electronic component.

A size of the connection member is not limited to a particular one. Thesize of the connection member may be selected by those skilled in theart depending on a number and size of objects which are connected to theconnection member (for example, the electronic component and the board),a number of terminals of the object, and a line/space of the U/L-shapedside wiring of the connection member.

The core member 2103 serves to maintain a shape of the connection member2100, and therefore the connection member may be formed into variousshapes by changing a shape of the core member. Materials for the coremember 2103 include a metal, a ceramic, a resin and a resin composition(for example, a compound of a resin and a filler). In a case where thecore member 2103 is made of a metal, a desired shape is easily made bymachining and production cost is low. In addition, thermal conductivityof the metal is low, which avoids a deficiency in thermal conductivityof a resin interposer and is effective to heat release (diffusion) froma semiconductor device. Further, the core member may be formed of ametal foil, a resin film or a glass cloth so as to have flexibility.

In a conventional connection member, electrical connection between anupper side and a lower side is made by a via, and therefore, it isdifficult to provide a core member of a conductive metal in aninsulating substrate. In the connection member of the present invention,electrical conduction is made by the U/L-shaped side wiring 2102 whichextends on a lateral side of the core, that is, on the side-surfaceportion of the insulating layer, and therefore a metal core member canbe used. Further, the metal member may also function as a shield.

In a case where the core member is formed of a ceramic material, highelectrical insulation as well as high thermal conductivity can beconferred to the connection member. A core member of a resin or a resincomposition is advantageous in aspects of weight, electrical insulation,machinability and cost.

The shape of the core member is not limited to a particular one and maybe selected depending on usage of the connection member. For example, acorner (or edge) portion of core member 2503 of the connection member2500 may not be sharpened, and may be planed off to be round (FIG. 26).In that case, insulating layer 2501 and/or U/L-shaped side wiring 2502conform to a shape of the corner portion, so that there is no bentportion with a sharpened edge in the U/L-shaped side wiring, whichresults in reduction in breakage of the wiring. Further, a core member2603 which has a concave portion 2608 (FIG. 27) or a core member 2703which has a hollow center 2705 (FIG. 28) may be used. In FIGS. 27 and28, insulating layers are denoted by reference numerals 2601 and 2701,respectively, and U/L-shaped side wirings are denoted by referencenumerals 2602 and 2702, respectively. FIG. 28 is a sectional view of aconnection member, similarly to FIG. 23. The core member 2703 has arectangular frame shape or a C-shape as a whole when the connectionmember 2700 is viewed from above. When using connection members 2600 and2700 shown in FIGS. 27 and 28, an electronic component can be placed ina space formed by the concave portion or the hollow portion, whereby amounting density is increased.

In another embodiment, U/L-shaped side wirings 2802 may be formed on twoor more side surfaces of an electrical insulating layer 2801, as shownin FIG. 29. Connection member 2800 shown in FIG. 29 is provided with theU/L-shaped side wirings 2802 which pass through a front side surface andU/L-shaped side wirings 2802 which pass through a side surface oppositeto the front side surface. A core member 2803 is not covered with theinsulating layer 2801 and is exposed on side surfaces where U/L-shapedside wiring 2802 does not exist. A number of the side surfaces where theU/L-shaped side wirings pass through may be selected depending on anumber of electronic components to be mounted and a number of wirings tobe connected, and may be three or four.

FIG. 30 shows a connection member 2900 wherein a core member 2903 iscompletely covered with an electrical insulating layer. In FIG. 30, thecore member 2903 enclosed by insulating layer 2901 is shown by shading.In the connection member 2900 shown in FIG. 30, U/L-shaped side wirings2902 are situated on all of four side surfaces and therefore theU/L-shaped side wirings are located on every exposed surface of anapproximate hexahedron.

In the connection member 2100 shown in FIG. 22, the core member 2103 andthe insulating layer 2101 disposed around the core member 2103 have anapproximate hexahedral shape as a whole. In this specification, theterms “approximate hexahedron” or “approximate rectangle” are used inthe sense that they include, in addition to a geometrical hexahedron (arectangular parallelepiped and a cube) and rectangle (a square or anoblong rectangle), a hexahedron and a rectangle whose corners or edgesare rounded and those whose surfaces are not completely flat but curved.For example, the “approximate hexahedron” includes, for example, aconnection member 3000 shown in FIG. 31 which has a rounded hexahedralshape as a whole due to a thick insulating layer 3001 which is wrappedaround a core member 3003 having sharpened edges. Also in the connectionmember 3000, breakage of U/L-shaped side wiring 3002 can be reduced.

In a connection member with a core, since a shape of an insulating layeris maintained by the core member, a thickness of the insulating layercan be reduced. Thereby, a thickness of the connection member is reducedor connection reliability is improved. Further, since an upper surfaceand a lower surface of the connection member can be electricallyconnected without forming vias in the connection member and with a coresimilarly to the first embodiment, inconvenience caused by via formationcan be avoided. Details thereof are as described in connection with thefirst embodiment, and therefore omitted here.

Next, an embodiment of a method for producing a connection member with acore, for example the connection member shown in FIG. 23 is describedwith reference to FIGS. 24( a)-24(c) and 32(a)-32(c). FIG. 24( a) is aschematic sectional view similar to FIG. 23. A method shown in FIGS.24(a)-24(c) corresponds to a “fourth production method” of the presentinvention and a method shown in FIGS. 32( a)-32(c) corresponds to a“third production method” of the present invention.

FIG. 24( a) shows a laminate 2105 including a carrier sheet 2104 (or asupport sheet) and a wiring layer 2102 formed thereon, and a resin layer2101 (an electrically insulating layer) formed around a core member2103.

The wiring layer 2102 may be made from, for example, a copper foil(preferably, an electrolytic copper foil) and the carrier sheet 2104 maybe made of, for example, a metal foil (a copper foil or an aluminumfoil) or a resin film. A thickness of the wiring layer 2102 may be in arange of about 3 μm to about 50 μm, and a thickness of the carrier sheet2104 may be in a range of about 25 μm to about 200 μm. Materials forforming this laminate are known as various materials used for producinga circuit board.

Next, the wiring layer 2102 having a predetermined pattern may be formedby any known method, for example, an etching process using a mask. As aresult of the process, the wiring layer 2102 is formed so that itincludes at least one wiring which is to become a U/L-shaped side wiringfinally.

In parallel with formation of the wiring layer, uncured resin layer 2101is formed by applying a resin material containing a resin onto the coremember 2103. This material is to be the insulating layer. Anelectrically insulating thermosetting resin and/or an electricallyinsulating thermoplastic resin is used as the resin. A hardening resin(particularly a thermosetting resin) in a semi-cured state (that is,B-stage) is particularly preferred. The resin material may contain afiller as described. In one example, the resin material may contain atleast 100 parts by weight (preferably 140 to 180 parts by weight) of aninorganic filler to 100 parts by weight of the thermosetting resin. Athickness of the resin layer 2101 is, for example, in a range of about 5μm to about 100 μm.

Next, as shown in FIG. 24( b), the laminate 2105 is bent along the resinlayer 2101 so that the wiring layer 2102 contacts the resin layer 2101.As a result, bent portions of the wiring layer 2102 are opposite to eachother across the resin layer and become an upper-surface wiring portionand a lower-surface wiring potion of the U/L-shaped side wiring,respectively, and these portions are connected by a side-surface wiringportion. Thereafter, an electrically insulating layer is formed bycuring the resin contained in this bent resin layer. In FIG. 24( c),reference numerals 2101 a, 2101 b and 2102 c denote the upper-surfaceportion, the lower-surface portion and the side-surface portion of theinsulating layer, respectively.

The step shown in FIG. 24( a) may be a step of forming a laminatecovered with a resin layer 3105 by forming a resin layer 3101, which isto be an electrically insulating layer, on a laminate including acarrier sheet 3104 and a wiring layer 3102 formed thereon as shown inFIG. 32( a). The resin layer 3101 may be formed by applying a resinmaterial containing preferably a hardening resin (particularly athermosetting resin) or attaching a sheet of such a material on thelaminate. A preferable material for the resin layer is as described inconnection with the step shown in FIG. 24( a). In this case, thelaminate 3105 is bent along a core member 3103 so that the resin layer3101 contacts the core member 3103, as shown in FIG. 32( b). As aresult, an upper-surface portion 3101 a, a lower-surface portion 3101 b,and a side-surface portion 3101 c of the insulating layer are formed anda U/L-shaped side wiring 3102 is formed. Thereafter, resin contained inthe resin layer is hardened so as to form the insulating layer.

After bending the laminate or the laminate covered with a resin layer,carrier sheet 2104 or 3104 is removed as shown in FIG. 24( c) or FIG.32( c). Curing of the resin layer may be performed either before orafter removal of the carrier sheet. Alternatively, the curing may beperformed before and after the removal of the carrier sheet. In additionor alternatively, the curing of the resin layer may be performed duringthe removal of the carrier sheet. After this step, a connection member2100 or 3100 is obtained.

As apparent from the above description, a via which penetrates theinsulating layer and possibly the core member does not need to be formedin the third production method and the fourth production method, andtherefore, a step of forming a via can be omitted in these productionmethods. An advantage conferred by this is as described in connectionwith the first embodiment, and details thereof are omitted here.

In a case where the connection member is produced as shown in FIGS. 24(a)-24(c), the U/L-shaped side wiring 2102 is entirely embedded within asurface portion of the insulating layer 2101. That is, an exposedsurface of the U/L-shaped side wiring 2102 is substantially flush withan exposed surface of the insulating layer 2101 and these exposedsurfaces are co-planar. An effect provided by this construction(suppression of breakage of the U/L-shaped side wiring 2102) is asdescribed in connection with the first embodiment.

Alternatively, the exposed surface of the U/L-shaped side wiring 2102may be concave from the exposed surface of the insulating layer 2101 onthe side-surface portion 2101 c so that it is located at a positioninside the insulating layer 2101. An advantage provided by thisconstruction is as described in connection with the first embodiment.Particularly, if the corner portion of the U/L-shaped side wiring 2102is protruded from the exposed surface of the insulating layer 2101, thecorner portion tends to contact an external thing. Therefore, it isparticularly preferable that the corner portion dents inside relative tothe exposed surface of the insulating layer 2101. To this end, each ofthe exposed surfaces of the U/L-shaped side wiring 2102 on theupper-surface portion 2101 a and/or the lower-surface portion 2101 b ofthe insulating layer 2101 may be preferably concave from the exposedsurface of the insulating layer.

A configuration wherein the exposed surface of the U/L-shaped sidewiring 2102 is inside relative to the exposed surface on theside-surface portion 2101 c of the insulating layer 2101 to form a step,may be obtained by a method which is similar to the method described inconnection with the first embodiment. Specifically, a concavity isformed in the carrier sheet 2104 by etching away, in addition to anunnecessary portion of the metal layer, a portion of the carrier sheet2104 which is beneath the unnecessary portion of the metal layer duringformation of the wiring layer 2102 shown in FIG. 24( a). Next, a step offolding a carrier sheet and the metal layer along the resin layer formedon the core member, and a step of heating and pressurizing, areperformed to provide a connection member wherein resin material entersinto the concavity in the carrier sheet 2104 and a step is formedbetween the exposed surface of the insulating layer 2101 and the exposedsurface of the U/L-shaped side wiring 2102 in a finished connectionmember. Also in the method shown in FIGS. 32( a)-32(c), a step may beformed by removing an extra portion of the carrier sheet 3104 to form aconcave portion, and then forming the resin layer 3102. Easilyunderstood is a configuration of the connection member wherein a step isformed between the U/L-shaped side wiring and the insulating layer, byreferring to FIG. 18.

A resin or a film may be applied to a surface of the insulating layer2101 as a solder resist layer for protecting the U/L-shaped side wiring2102. In that case, exposed surfaces of the U/L-shaped side wirings 2102may be concave from or flushed with an exposed surface of the solderresist layer (for example, a solder resist layer formed on theside-surface portion 2101 c) of the insulating layer 2101. This resistlayer is advantageously provided in that a spread of the solder isprevented upon mounting.

Also in the third and the fourth production methods, since the laminateor the laminate covered with a resin layer is bent (or folded) to shapethe connection member, a three-dimensional construction can be easilyproduced depending on a bending manner. For example, in a case where thecore member has a shape with at least one of a convex portion and aconcave portion, the laminate or the laminate covered with a resin layercan be bent along the core member and then the resin layer is curedcompletely, resulting in a connection member having at least one of theconvex portion and the concave portion as a whole.

The third and the fourth production methods make it possible to producea connection member without forming a via. An advantage of notperforming a step of forming a via is as described above in connectionwith the first embodiment and that description is omitted here.

Embodiment 5

A component mount assembly is described with reference to FIG. 33. FIG.33 is a sectional view schematically showing a component mount assembly3210 which includes a connection member with a core 3200, and a printedboard 3206 which is connected to the connection member. U/L-shaped sidewirings 3202 are connected to terminals as electrical elements which arearranged in an area array. In this embodiment, a mounting manner of BGA(Ball Grid Array) type which uses solder balls 3208 is employed.Alternatively, a mounting manner of LGA (Land Grid Array) type may beused.

The connection member 3200 shown in FIG. 33 has an electricallyinsulating layer 3201, a plurality of U/L-shaped side wirings 3202 and acore member 3203. The U/L-shaped side wirings 3202 extend from anupper-surface portion of the insulating layer 3201 toward alower-surface portion of the insulating layer 3201 through aside-surface portion of the insulating layer 3201. In the embodimentshown in FIG. 33, a semiconductor device 3205 is mounted on theconnection member 3200 and connected to the U/L-shaped side wirings3202. The printed board 3206 is mounted on a lower surface of theconnection member via the U/L-shaped side wirings 3202. Therefore, thesemiconductor device 3205 and the printed board 3206 are connected viathe connection member 3200

In the component mount assembly 3210 shown in FIG. 33, the semiconductordevice may be, for example, a bare chip. The semiconductor device 3205may be mounted by a flip chip method or a wire bonding method on theconnection member 3200 via bumps 3207 which are, as electrical elements,connected to the U/L-shaped side wirings 3202. An underfilling may beformed between the semiconductor device 3205 and the upper-surfaceportion of the insulating layer 3201. The underfilling may improveadhesion between the semiconductor device and the insulating layer.Further, a difference in thermal expansion between the semiconductordevice and the insulating layer can be relieved by selecting anappropriate material for the underfilling.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 33, the connection member 3200 of thepresent invention functions as an interposer (an intermediate board).Such usage of the connection member can convert a peripheral terminalarrangement of a bare chip into an area array arrangement, whichfacilitates mounting of the bare chip.

Embodiment 6

Another embodiment of the component mount assembly which includes aconnection member with a core is described below with reference to FIG.34. FIG. 34 is a sectional view schematically showing a component mountassembly 3310 including a connection member with a core 3300, and aprinted board 3306 connected to the connection member 3300.

The connection member 3300 shown in FIG. 34 has an electricallyinsulating layer 3301, a plurality of U/L-shaped side wirings 3302 and acore member 3303. The U/L-shaped side wirings 3302 extend from anupper-surface portion of the insulating layer 3301 toward alower-surface portion of the insulating layer 3301 through aside-surface portion of the insulating layer 3301. In the embodimentshown in FIG. 34, the core member 3303 is of a U-shape having a concaveportion on its lower surface and the insulating layer 3301 is formedalong a circumference of the core member 3303, whereby the connectionmember is of a U-shape having a concave portion 3308 as a whole.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 34, the connection member 3300 functionsas a connection member which can be used for three dimensional mounting.More specifically, a semiconductor device 3305 a is mounted on an uppersurface of the connection member 3300 and connected to the U/L-shapedside wirings 3302. The printed board 3306 is mounted on a lower surfaceof the connection member 3300 through the U/L-shaped side wirings 3302.As a result, the semiconductor device 3305 a and the printed board 3306are electrically connected via the connection member 3300. Further,another electronic component (such as a chip part (or a chip component)or a semiconductor device) mounted on the printed board 3306 is placedwithin the concave portion 3308. In the illustrated embodiment,underfillings 3309 are formed under the semiconductor device 3305 a andthe electronic component 3305 b.

Usage of the connection member 3300 enables, in addition to thesemiconductor device 3305 a, another semiconductor device 3305 b to bemounted within the same area viewed from above FIG. 34 so that bothdevices are overlapped vertically in the printed board 3306. As aresult, more electronic components can be mounted even if a mountingarea is small. The electronic component mounted on the connection member3300 and/or the printed board 3306 is not limited to a baresemiconductor chip, and may be another electronic component such as achip part.

FIG. 35 shows a mount assembly wherein a plurality of connection members3300 shown in FIG. 34 are stacked. More specifically, a secondconnection member 3300 b is disposed above a first connection member3300 a. Further, each of concave portions in the connection membersaccommodates a semiconductor device which is connected to a connectionmember or a printed board which is placed under each concave portion.Furthermore, a semiconductor device is mounted on the second connectionmember. In other words, this mount assembly has a construction whereinanother connection member is disposed on the mount assembly shown inFIG. 34 and another semiconductor is mounted on this another connectionmember. Two connection members are electrically connected in apredetermined manner through a U/L-shaped side wiring and/or anelectrical element connected to the U/L-shaped side wiring. Here, thesemiconductor device located within the concave portion of the firstconnection member 3300 a may be a semiconductor memory and thesemiconductor device located within the concave portion of the secondconnection member 3300 b may be an LSI (for example, a logic LSI).

In a variant of the illustrated embodiment, a number of the connectionmembers may be three or more so that a multilayer connection member isconstructed. These stacked connection members may be of the same type ordifferent types. Alternatively, instead of a connection member with acore, another connection member of the present invention (for example,the connector sheet according to the first embodiment) or a conventionalconnection member may be combined with the connection member with acore.

Embodiment 7

Another embodiment of the component mount assembly including theconnection member with a core is described with reference to FIG. 36.FIG. 36 is a schematic sectional view of a component mount assembly 3510constituted by printed boards 3506 a and 3506 b which are connected by aconnection member with a core 3500. In FIG. 36, details of theconnection member 3500 are not illustrated, but the connection member3500 has a U/L-shaped side wiring for connecting the boards disposed onan upper surface and a lower surface of the connection member.

The connection member 3500 shown in FIG. 36 electrically connects theprinted boards 3506 a and 3506 b and retains these boards integrally. Inthe illustrated embodiment, connection members exist on the left andright sides in this figure. They may be two separate connection membersshown in, for example, FIG. 23, or a single connection member shown in,for example, FIG. 28. Semiconductor devices 3505 a and 3505 b aremounted on the printed boards 3506 a and 3506 b, respectively. Usage ofthe connection member 3500 shown in FIG. 36 makes it possible that, inaddition to the semiconductor device 3505 a, another semiconductordevice 3505 b is mounted in the same area viewed from above that bothdevices are overlapped vertically. As a result, more electroniccomponents can be mounted even if a mounting area is small. By adjustinga height (or a thickness) of the connection member, a component can beaccommodated within a space defined by the connection member 3500 andthe printed boards 3506 a and 3506 b. A shape and size of a connectionmember with a core may be easily designed by machining the core member,and therefore, they are optimized depending on a required embodiment.Therefore, a construction as shown in FIG. 35 can be easily realized bythe connection member with a core.

The connection member 3500 has a small size. Further, in the samefootprint, a maximum number of the U/L-shaped side wirings which can beformed in the connection member 3500 is larger than a maximum number ofvias which can be formed in a connection member with vias. Therefore,the connection member 3500 can reduce an area required for connectionand it can be connected to a printed board with a fine pitch. Connectionof the connection member 3500 to the printed boards 3506 a and 3506 bmay be made using a known mounting technique (such as a solder mountingand a mounting with use of a conductive adhesive). Therefore, theconnection member 3500 can be used as a member for constituting a mountassembly without involving new investment in plant and equipment. Aconnection method for connecting the connection member 3500 to theprinted circuit board 3506 a may be different from the connection methodfor connecting the connection member 3500 to the printed circuit board3506 b. For example, the former may be a method wherein an anisotropicconductive film is used, and the latter may be a reflow solderingmethod.

The connection member 3500 may be easily dimensioned into a normal sizeof a chip part (for example, so called “1005” or “1608”). The connectionmember of such a size may be mounted on a printed board using aconventional mounting apparatus and may be placed at any position,whereby, a short wiring connection can be made and freedom of design athe mount assembly is increased.

Further, as shown in FIG. 37, a construction can be realized, wherein aplurality of component mount assemblies 3610 (wherein electroniccomponents 3611 are mounted) are mounted on a single printed board 3606b using a plurality of connection members 3600 of the present invention.Thereby, a higher mounting density can be achieved depending on designand component height. In the illustrated embodiment, the component mountassemblies 3610 are constructed so that the printed board 3606 isconnected on an upper surface of the connection member 3600 and theelectronic components 3611 are mounted on the printed board 3606. Asemiconductor device 3605 is mounted on the printed board 3606 b and isplaced within a space defined by connection member 3600 and a lowersurface of the printed board 3606. The semiconductor device 3605 isconnected to bumps 3607 on a surface of the printed board 3606 b and anunderfilling 3609 is formed. Although four connection members are shownin FIG. 37, the number of the connection members is not limited.Further, the electronic component constituting the mount assembly maynot be limited to a semiconductor device, and may be another electroniccomponent such as a chip part.

Embodiment 8

A method for continuously producing a connection member with a core isdescribed with reference to FIG. 38. FIG. 38 schematically shows stepsin the method for producing the connection member with a core. Theconnection member of the present invention can be continuously producedby a method which includes a step wherein a roller is employed.

As shown in FIG. 38, a carrier sheet 3704 which has a wiring layer 3702(which includes a portion to be a U/L-shaped side wiring) formed byprocessing a metal layer is supplied from a roller 3712. A resin layer3701 b is formed on a surface of the wiring layer which is movingtogether with the carrier sheet toward the right side in the figure, byapplying a resin 3701 using a blade 3713 into a constant thickness. As aresult, a laminate covered with a resin layer 3715 is obtained whichincludes a carrier sheet 3704, a wiring layer 3702 and a resin layer3701 b. Next, a core member 3073 is supplied on a resin layer side, andthe laminate 3715 is bent so as to wrap the core member 3703 at aposition indicated by an arrow 3714 into a desired shape as shown at theright end in the figure. Subsequently, the resin is cured by beingheated and pressurized. After curing the resin, the laminate is cut at aposition indicated by an arrow 3716, As a result, a connection memberwith a core of the present invention is obtained. This cutting may beperformed before curing the resin. The illustrated method shows how tocontinuously perform the third production method which is described withreference to FIG. 32. When many U/L-shaped side wirings are formed atthe same time in the connection member produced by this method, theconnection member may be optionally divided into two or more connectionmembers.

The production method shown in FIG. 38 can be applied to the fourthproduction method. In that case, a resin layer is formed around a coremember 3703 by applying a resin 3701 to the core member 3703, and theresin is not applied to the carrier sheet 3704. Further, a laminate ofthe carrier sheet 3704 and the wiring layer 3702 is bent into apredetermined shape at a position indicated by the arrow 3714 so as tocover the core member 3703 which is covered with the resin layer, andthen the resin is cured by heating.

In a variation of the production method shown in FIG. 38, instead ofapplying a resin, a resin in a sheet form may be laminated on the wiringlayer or may be placed around the core member.

The production method shown in FIG. 38 may be also applied to the firstmethod which is described in connection with the first embodiment. Inthat case, a connection member without a core may be obtained by bendinga laminate covered with a resin layer without supplying a core member.

The production method shown in FIG. 38 is advantageous since it makespossible continuous production of the connection member using the rolland a necessary conveying device is simple. Further, the continuousproduction of the connection member contributes to a shorter waitingtime of a manufacturing apparatus and less work force compared with abatch-type production.

Embodiment 9

A method for producing a large number of connection members with a coreat the same time is described with reference to FIGS. 39( a)-39(g). Thisproduction method shown in FIGS. 39( a)-39(g) corresponds to a “fifthproduction method.”

Firstly, a laminate including a carrier sheet 3804 and a metal layer3802 formed thereon is prepared as shown in FIG. 39( a). Next, as shownin FIG. 39( b), a wiring layer 3802 is formed by a conventionalprocessing method. The wiring layer 3802 includes many portions whichare to be U/L-shaped side wirings so that, when the laminate is bent ata plurality of positions, each of the portions makes a U/L-shaped sidewiring at each bent position. FIGS. 39( a) and 39(b) correspond to thestep (5-A) of the fifth production method.

Next, as shown in FIG. 39( c), step (5-B) of bending the laminate isperformed so that the wiring layer 3802 is inside. This step may beperformed by, for example, press working. This bending is performed suchthat the U/L-shaped side wirings are formed at a plurality of positions,and the wiring after bending forms a concave portion 3808 as shown inFIG. 39( c).

Next, as shown in FIG. 39( d), step (5-c′) of introducing a resin 3801which is to form an electrically insulating layer is performed, and thenstep (5-c″) of inserting a core member 3803 into this introduced resinwithin the concave portion is performed. Thereafter, as shown in FIG.39( e), the resin is cured to form insulating layer 3801 (step (5-D)).Finally, as shown in FIG. 39( f), step (5-E) of removing the carriersheet 3804 is performed so as to obtain each connection member 3800. Theresin is introduced in an amount to form the insulating layer betweenthe core member and the wiring layer. The connection member shown inFIG. 39( f) may be optionally divided into two or more connectionmembers. Insertion of the core member shown in FIG. 39( d) may beperformed using a frame-type core member 3820 wherein core members 3803are formed together as shown in FIG. 39( g), whereby many core memberscan be easily inserted in the concave portions 3808 at the same time.

This production method is advantageous particularly when a plurality of(particularly, many) many connection members are produced at the sametime. This production method may be performed for producing a connectionmember without a core. In that case, step (5-C) of pouring the resininto the concave portion is performed to fill the concave portion withthe resin without inserting a core member. Alternatively, in the fifthproduction method, the laminate may not necessarily be bent so as toform the concave portion, but it may be bent so that the at least onewiring forms a rectangular ring (that is, two U/L-shaped side wiringsare formed in a final module). Alternatively, the laminate may be bentwithin an appropriate metal tool and a space between the wiring portionsmay be closed by the metal tool and the carrier sheet. When any place inthe carrier sheet does not communicate with a space formed by thebending (that is, a space formed by bending the laminate is completelyenclosed by the laminate and/or the metal tool), a hole for injectingthe resin (and for inserting the core member, if necessary) is formed inthe laminate or the metal tool and the resin (and the core member, ifnecessary) is put in the space. By selecting an appropriate foldingmanner, the U/L-shaped side wirings can be disposed on two or more sidesurfaces (for example, all of four side surfaces) of a hexahedron.

Embodiment 10

In FIG. 40( a), a sub-board 3920 including a connection member of thepresent invention is schematically shown in perspective view. Thesub-board 3920 shown in FIG. 40( a) has six connection members 3900which are mounted on a peripheral region of one surface thereof, andfive electronic components 3905 which are mounted on an internal region.Each of the connection members is a connection member with a core. Awiring pattern is formed on the sub-board (not shown) and the electroniccomponents and the connection members are connected in a predeterminedmanner. A component (for example, a circuit component) may be mounted onanother surface of the sub-board.

FIG. 40( b) schematically shows that the sub-board shown in FIG. 40( a)is reversed and mounted on another circuit board 3930. Various otherelectronic components 3940 are mounted on the circuit board 3930. Thesub-board shown in FIG. 40( a) has a circuit component 3940 (not seen inFIG. 40( a)) mounted on a surface where the connection members are notmounted. The sub-board 3920 and the circuit board 3930 are electricallyconnected by the connection members 3900. In this illustratedembodiment, heights of the connection members 3900 are preferablyconstant for better connection between the sub-board 3920 and thecircuit board 3930. In a connection member with a core, the core membercontributes to shape retainment. Therefore, a connection member having arelatively uniform shape can be mass-produced by making a core member ofsame dimensions. Therefore, a plurality of connection members with coresare suitable for use at the same time as shown in FIGS. 40( a) and40(b).

Embodiment 11

An interposer which is an embodiment of the connection member of thepresent invention is described below. A basic construction is the sameas that of a connector sheet which is described above. Therefore, itshould be noted that a description as to the matter described in thefirst embodiment may be omitted.

FIG. 41 schematically shows an interposer of the present invention inperspective view. An illustrated interposer 4100 includes a rigidsubstrate 4010 as an electrically insulating plate substrate, and aplurality of U/L-shaped side wirings 4020. The rigid substrate 4010 hasan upper surface 4010 a, a lower surface 4010 b which is opposite to theupper surface 4010 a and a side surface 4010 c which is adjacent andconnects the upper surface 4010 a and the lower surface 4010 b. Each ofthe U/L-shaped side wirings 4020 has an upper-surface portion 4020A, alower-surface wiring portion (not shown) and a side-surface portion4020B. An end portion of the upper-surface wiring portion 4020A isconnected to a land 4020 a which is a terminal, and an end portion ofthe lower-surface wiring portion is connected to a land 4020 b which isa terminal.

As shown in FIG. 41, in the interposer 4100, electrical conductionbetween the upper surface 4010 a and the lower surface 4010 b of therigid substrate 4010 is made only by the U/L-shaped side wirings 4020.Therefore, in this interposer, the rigid substrate 4010 has no viaswhich ensure electrical conduction between the upper surface 4010 a andthe lower surface 4010 b.

The interposer 4100 may be, for example, an organic interposer which isformed of a material containing an organic material and the rigidsubstrate 4010 may be formed of a composite material containing a resin(for example, a thermosetting resin and/or a thermoplastic resin) and aninorganic filler. In this embodiment, the thermosetting resin isemployed as the resin. In this embodiment, the rigid substrate 4010 maybe formed of only the thermosetting resin without using the inorganicfiller. Further, the thermosetting resin may be, for example an epoxyresin. In a case where the inorganic filler is added to the resin, afiller of Al₂O₃, SiO₂, MgO, BN or AlN may be used. By adding theinorganic filler, various properties of the rigid substrate can becontrolled. For this reason, the rigid substrate is preferably formed ofthe composite material containing the inorganic filler. In anotherembodiment, the rigid substrate may be formed of a ceramic material.Further, a resist layer may be provided on a surface of the rigidsubstrate 4010 and thereby a short circuit of solder can be prevented.

The wirings 4020 may be formed by etching a copper foil and a thicknessof the wirings 4020 may be in a range of about 3 μm to about 50 μm. Anumber of the wirings 4020 may be at least sixteen. In the interposershown in FIG. 41, thirty U/L-shaped side wirings 4020 are provided. Inthe interposer shown in FIG. 41, a plurality of (for example, four)dummy wirings 4021, each of which is not connected to either terminal4020 a or 4020 b, is formed. The dummy wirings 4021 serve to even awiring density. The dummy wirings can be utilized as a wiring forexamination. Further, the dummy wirings 4021 are used for examination ofmatching between the interposer 4100 and a printed board to which theinterposer 4100 is mounted. Alternatively, a constant (for example, acharacteristic impedance) of the interposer and/or a circuit board canbe adjusted by mounting a test component (for example, a component foradjusting a circuit constant). The test component (or the component foradjusting a circuit constant) may be a chip component (such as a chipinductor, a chip resistor and a chip capacitor), and the component maybe removed in a final product stage or may remain.

A maximum number of the wirings 4020 depends on a dimension of theinterposer 4100, and it is determined in consideration of line and space(L/S) of the side-surface wiring portions and the upper-surface wiringportions of the wirings 4020. For example, the maximum number of theU/L-shaped side wirings 4020 may be about five hundred in an interposerwhich is adapted to a general mounting area. Of course, more than fivehundred U/L-shaped side wirings 4020 may be provided. In that case, itis desired that an area of the interposer 4100 and a number of theU/L-shaped side wirings are balanced, and the area of the interposeravoids being too large in order for the interposer to play its primaryrole as an intermediate board.

In the interposer 4100 shown in FIG. 41, lands 4020 a are arranged in aperipheral region of the upper surface 4010 a of the rigid substrate4010. That is, in this interposer, ends (lands) of the U/L-shaped sidewirings 4020 are arranged in a peripheral manner corresponding to aterminal arrangement of a bare chip so that the bare chip (a bare IC) ismounted on the upper surface 4010 a of the rigid substrate 4010. Anarrangement of lands 4020 on the lower surface 4010 b of the rigidsubstrate 4010 may correspond to a terminal arrangement of a printedboard (such as a mother board) where the interposer 4100 is mounted. Forexample, the lands 4020 b may be arranged in a grid pattern.Specifically, the lands 4020 b may form a land grid array (LGA) or aball grid array (BGA) by attaching solder balls to the lands 4020 b. Inthis illustrated embodiment, the U/L-shaped side wirings 4020 and thelands 4020 a and 4020 b may be formed together from, for example, acopper foil.

A dimension of the interposer 4100 depends on a size of a surface mountcomponent which is to be mounted on the interposer 4100, a size of aprinted board where the interposer 4100 is mounted, and a line-space anda number of wirings on the interposer 4100 and it is not limited to aparticular one. In the illustrated construction, an upper surface areaof the rigid substrate 4010 may be at most 200 mm², and the number ofthe terminals connected to the U/L-shaped side wirings 4020 may be atleast sixteen on the upper surface. This dimension and terminal numberare exemplary ones. The interposer 4100 shown in FIG. 41 has thirtyterminals connected to the U/L-shaped side wirings 4020.

In the interposer 4100, the rigid substrate 4010 is an approximatehexahedron and the upper surface 4010 a of the rigid substrate 4010 isan approximate rectangle. The meanings of the “approximate hexahedron”and the “approximate rectangle” are described above. A shape of theinterposer may have a curved surface, and a strictly geometrical shapedoes not have much significance for the interposer, as long as afunction of the interposer is ensured. Therefore, although the rigidsubstrate is illustrated as a hexahedron without any curve in FIG. 41, aside surface of the rigid substrate may be a curved surface in anotherembodiment. When the interposer is produced according to a methoddescribed below, the side surface tends to be curved. Thus, theU/L-shaped side wirings may be easily formed if this curved side surfaceis acceptable.

In the illustrated embodiment, the upper surface 4010 a of the rigidsubstrate 4010 is an approximate rectangle consisting of long sides4010L and narrow sides 4010S. A length of the long sides 4010L may be,for example, three times a length of the narrow side 4010S. In thisembodiment, a width of a portion of the wirings 4020, which portion isdisposed on the side surface 4010 c of the rigid substrate 4010, is atmost 0.25 mm and a space between the wirings 4020 on the side surface4010 c is at most 0.3 mm. A thickness of the rigid substrate 4010 is,for example, in a range of about 0.1 mm to 2 mm.

As described in connection with the first embodiment, it is necessary toemploy a square substrate in order to form as many through holes (orvias) as possible in the interposer. In other words, it is impossible toform more through holes in a substrate of an oblong rectangular shape oran elliptical shape compared to the square substrate. To the contrary,in a case of the interposer 4100 of the present invention, theU/L-shaped side wirings 4200 can be arranged by defining the line-space(L/S) of the U/L-shaped side wirings 4020. Therefore, it is possible toform many U/L-shaped side wirings 4020 not only in the square substrate,but also in a rectangular substrate (for example, a rectangle whereinthe length of the long side 4010L is at least 1.4 times the length ofthe narrow side 4010S) effectively.

In the interposer shown in FIG. 41, the U/L-shaped side wirings 4020 aredisposed on every side surface of hexahedral rigid substrate 4010 inorder that more U/L-shaped side wirings 4020 are formed. A position anda number of the U/L-shaped side wirings are not limited to theillustrated embodiment. For example, the U/L-shaped side wirings 4020may be only on the side surfaces adjacent the long sides 4010L, and noton the side surfaces adjacent the narrow side 4010S, since moreU/L-shaped side wirings 4020 can be arranged on the side surfaceadjacent the long side 4010L than on the side surface adjacent thenarrow side 4010S.

Further, referring to FIGS. 42( a)-42(c), the interposer 4100 of thepresent invention is compared with an interposer with a via 5000 whereinvias 5200 (through holes) are formed.

FIG. 42( a) schematically shows a construction of the interposer of thepresent invention and FIG. 42( b) schematically shows a construction ofthe interposer with a via 5000. In both of FIGS. 42( a) and 42(b), amounting surface for a semiconductor chip is shown as an upper surface.In the embodiment shown in FIG. 42( b), lands 5200 connected to the viasand terminals 5210 (terminals for mounting the semiconductor chip)arranged in a peripheral pattern are shown on the upper surface of theinterposer 5000. FIG. 42( c) shows a relationship between an area (mm²)of the upper surface of the interposer and a number of connectionelements (i.e. the wirings 4020 or the vias 5200) which connect theupper surface and the lower surface. A solid line in FIG. 42( c) is acurve as to the interposer 4100 of this embodiment shown in FIG. 42( a),and a dotted line in FIG. 42( c) is a curve as to the interposer with avia 5000 shown in FIG. 42( b).

For convenience of comparison, shapes of the upper and lower surfaces ofthe interposers shown in FIGS. 42( a) and 42(b) are made square. Thissquare shape is most advantageous to the interposer with a via shown inFIG. 42( b). A line-space of the wirings 4020 shown in FIG. 42( a) is0.05 mm/0.05 mm on the side surface, and a pad pitch of the vias 5200shown in FIG. 42( b) is 0.5 mm.

As to the interposer shown in FIG. 42( b), a line-space (L/S) of thewirings which extend from the terminals 5210 should be considered as aconstraint, but the constraint imposed by the wirings extended from theterminals 5210 is not considered in FIG. 42( b) for simplifying adiscussion. Further, since each via 5200 is required to be connected toa land in an actual interposer, the “via” 5200 used herein means the“land.” Therefore, the size of the mounting surface for a semiconductorchip, which is shown in FIG. 42( b), is determined by a land diameterand a space between the lands. Furthermore, in both of the interposersshown in FIGS. 42( a) and 42(b), a board mounting surface, which is thelower surface of the interposer, requires lands adapting to a circuitboard. However, constraints for forming a land on the lower surfacewould be the same as those for forming a land on the upper surface.Therefore, a comparison between the interposers shown in FIGS. 42( a)and 42(b) is discussed based on the constraints for the semiconductorchip mounting surface (the upper surface).

Under such a condition, a relationship between an area and a number ofconnection elements for two interposers (4100 and 5000) is asillustrated in a graph shown in FIG. 42( c). As shown in FIG. 42( c), asthe area of the interposer is smaller (about at most 120 mm²), thenumber of the connection elements (i.e. the number of U/L-shaped sidewirings) is larger in the interposer 4100 than those (the number ofvias) in the interposer 5000.

In FIG. 42( c), both interposers are compared for an area of 50 mm², thenumber of vias formed in the interposer 5000 is about 150, while thenumber of U/L-shaped side wirings is about 300 in the interposer 4100according to the present invention. Results shown in FIG. 42( c) arethose for an interposer having a square upper surface. For an interposerhaving an oblong rectangular upper surface, as a ratio of long side tonarrow side is larger, an interposer of the present invention can beprovided with more connection elements (U/L-shaped side wirings) withina smaller area as compared to an interposer with vias.

Construction of the connection member of the present invention makes itpossible to form many connection elements (that is, the U/L-shaped sidewirings) between the upper and the lower surfaces in the interposerhaving a smaller area, whereby an interposer with a smaller mountingarea which is adapted to a fine pitch and a high pin count can beobtained. Further, as the area of the interposer 4100 of the presentinvention is smaller, it represents an excellent characteristic since apath of the U/L-shaped side wirings 4020 becomes shorter. In otherwords, when the area of the interposer 4100 is small, a line length ofthe U/L-shaped side wirings becomes short, which provides an advantagethat propagation delay of a signal wiring is eliminated or reduced. Fromthis view point, the area of the upper surface 4010 a of the rigidsubstrate 4010 in the interposer 4100 of this embodiment may bepreferably at most 200 mm².

FIG. 43 is a graph showing numbers of connection elements (that is, theU/L-shaped side wirings 4020) in the interposer 4100 for differentline-spaces of the side-surface wiring portions of the U/L-shaped sidewirings 4020. Curves “a”, “b”, “c” and “d” in FIG. 43 correspond to theinterposers wherein the line-spaces (unit; μm) of the U/L-shaped sidewirings are 100/100, 50/50, 20/20 and 10/10, respectively. Curve “e”(indicated by a dotted line) in FIG. 43 corresponds to the interposerwith vias shown in FIG. 42( b) wherein a pitch of its via grid is 500μm. The curves “b” and “e” shown in FIG. 43 correspond to the solid lineand the dotted line shown in FIG. 42( c), respectively. Each curve shownin the graph of FIG. 43 illustrates a relationship between an area and anumber of the connection elements for an interposer of a square shape,similarly to the interposer shown in FIG. 42.

As apparent from FIG. 43, an interposer wherein L/S is 20/20 (curve “c”)and an interposer wherein L/S is 10/10 (curve “d”) can be provided withmore connection elements within a certain area compared to theinterposer with vias over an entire x-axis region. An interposer whereinL/S is 100/100 (curve “a”) can be provided with more connection elementscompared to the interposer with vias in an area of at most 30 mm². Acomparison of the curves “c”, “d” and “e” at an area of 200 mm² showsthat values (the number of the connection elements) of the curves “c”and “d” are respectively about 1.9 times and about 3.8 times the valueof the curve “e.” A comparison of the curves “c”, “d” and “e” at an areaof 100 mm² shows that values (the number of the connection elements) ofthe curves “c” and “d” are respectively about 2.7 times and about 5.5times the value of the curve “e.”

Next, an advantage of the interposer according to the present inventionwhich is achieved when a shape of the interposer is a rectangle isdescribed with reference to FIGS. 44 to 46. Each of FIGS. 44 to 46 is agraph wherein a horizontal axis represents a ratio of long side tonarrow side on the upper surface of the interposer and a vertical axisrepresents a number of top-bottom connection elements. In any of FIGS.44 to 46, a solid line represents the interposer shown in FIG. 42( a),and a dotted line represents the interposer with vias shown in FIG. 42(b). The graphs of FIGS. 44 and 46 are obtained when the area of theupper surface of the interposer is fixed to 100 mm², and the graph ofFIG. 45 is obtained when the area of the upper surface of the interposeris fixed to 200 mm².

In FIG. 44, a solid line represents the interposer 4100 wherein aline/space (unit; μm) is 50/50, and a dotted line represents theinterposer 5000 wherein a pad/space (unit; μm) is 300/200. In FIG. 45,the solid line represents the interposer 4100 wherein a line/space is50/50, and the dotted line represents the interposer 5000 wherein thepad/space is 300/200. In FIG. 46, the solid line represents theinterposer 4100 wherein the line/space is 50/50, and the dotted linerepresents the interposer 5000 wherein the pad/space is 200/100.

The graphs shown in FIGS. 44 to 46 illustrate that as a ratio of longside/narrow side is larger (that is, a shape is more elongated), moreconnection elements can be formed in the interposer 4100, while apossible number of vias is decreased in the interposer 5000.

In a case of a liquid crystal display (LCD) driver IC, the ratio of longside/narrow side may be often at least ten. Therefore, the interposer4100 of the present invention may be suitable for such an elongatedsemiconductor chip.

FIG. 47 schematically shows a construction of an interposer 4200suitable for combination with an elongated semiconductor chip. In rigidsubstrate 4010 of the interposer 4200 shown in FIG. 47, a length of along side 4010L may be, for example, ten times a length of a narrow side4010S. Herein, lands 4020 a, which are terminals connected to U/L-shapedside wirings 4020, are arranged in a peripheral region of an uppersurface 4010 a of the rigid substrate 4010. Other elements denoted byother reference numerals are as described in connection with FIG. 41.

FIG. 48 schematically shows an interposer 4250 which is a variation ofthe interposer 4200 shown in FIG. 47. In this interposer 4250, aU/L-shaped side wiring 4020 is not provided on a side surface adjacentnarrow side 4010S. In a variation of the construction shown in FIG. 48,lands 4020 a may be arranged along the narrow side 4010S as shown inFIG. 47 and U/L-shaped side wirings 4020 may be formed so that thewirings 4020 extend from the lands to a side surface 4010 c adjacentlong side 4010L.

A shape of upper surface 4010 a of rigid substrate 4010 is not limitedto a square or a rectangle, and may be another shape. FIG. 49schematically shows a construction of an interposer 4300 wherein anupper surface 4010 a (and a lower surface 4010 b) of rigid substrate4010 has a rectangular frame shape. In a center of the rigid substrate4010 of the interposer 4300, an opening 4040 is formed, whereby theupper surface 4010 a of the rigid substrate 4010 takes a rectangularframe shape when viewed from above. Terminals 4020 a connected toU/L-shaped side wirings 4020 are formed around the opening 4040. Theopening 4040 of the rigid substrate 4010 makes it possible to furthermount a component on a region which is exposed from the opening 4040,thereby resulting in an increase in mounting area. Further, when asemiconductor chip is mounted on the interposer 4300, a rear surface ofthe semiconductor chip is exposed through the opening 4040 and therebythe opening 4040 can be used as a hole for cooling. In order to enhancea cooling function of the opening 4040, it is preferable that a throughhole is formed in a circuit board which is beneath the opening 4040, ora notch or a bore which communicates with the opening 4040 is preferablyformed in a portion of the interposer 4300. Alternatively, a shape ofthe rigid substrate 4010 may be a “U”-shape, not a rectangular frameshape. The rigid substrate 4010 of a rectangular shape may be producedby punching a solid rectangular rigid substrate.

FIG. 50 shows a construction of an interposer 4350 which is a variationof the interposer 4300 shown in FIG. 49. In the interposer 4300 shown inFIG. 49, the U/L-shaped side wirings 4020 are arranged on outercircumferential side surfaces 4010 c. In the interposer 4350 shown inFIG. 50, side-surface wiring portions of U/L-shaped side wirings 4020are placed on side surfaces 4010 c which are wall surfaces (innersurfaces) of opening 4040 of rigid substrate 4010 having a square frameshape. Further, a shield layer 4045 (for example, a metal shield layer)is formed on an outer circumferential surface of the rigid substrate4010. A shield function conferred by this shield layer 4045 can reducenoise.

Next, a production method for producing the interposer 4100 (or 4200 or4250) is described with reference to FIG. 51 and FIGS. 52( a) to 54(b).

FIG. 51 and FIGS. 52( a) to 54(b) are the same as FIG. 10 and FIGS. 11(a) to 13(b) as described above except for the reference numerals. Thatis, also when the connection member of the present invention is providedas an interposer, the interposer is produced by a method similar to theproduction method of the connector sheet. Therefore, description as tomatters which have been described above with reference to FIG. 10 andFIGS. 11( a) to 13(b) is simplified.

FIG. 51 schematically shows a sectional construction of an interposerproduced by a production method shown FIGS. 52( a) to 54(b). Thisinterposer has wiring patterns 4030 as electrical elements on uppersurface 4010 a and lower surface 4010 b of rigid substrate 4010.U/L-shaped side wirings 4020 are formed as a part of the wiring pattern4030. In FIG. 51, an overlapped plane of a sheet 4015 is indicated by adotted line 4011 for easily understanding that the rigid substrate isformed by folding the sheet 4015. In FIG. 51, “t” corresponds to athickness of the sheet 4015.

The production method shown in FIGS. 52( b) to 54(b) corresponds to afirst production method. FIGS. 52( a) to 52(d) show step (1-A) offorming a sheet “A” including a wiring layer and an insulating layercontaining a semi-cured resin. FIG. 53( a) shows step (1-B) of foldingthe sheet “A” 4015 and FIG. 53( b) shows the (1-C) of curing semi-curedresin.

FIG. 52( a) shows a step of preparing a laminate wherein a metal layer4032 is laminated on one surface of a carrier sheet 4050. The metallayer 4032 may be formed of, for example, a copper foil and the carriersheet may be formed of, for example, a metal foil (such as a copper foilor an aluminum foil) or a resin sheet. Thicknesses of the metal layer4032 and the carrier sheet 4050 may be, for example, in a range of about3 μm to about 50 μm and in a range of about 25 μm to about 200 μm,respectively.

FIG. 52( b) shows a step of forming wiring layer 4030 having apredetermined pattern by processing the metal layer 4032. Thisprocessing method has been described above and it is omitted here.

FIG. 52( c) shows a step of forming an insulating layer 4015 by applyinga resin to the carrier sheet 4050. The resin may be an insulatingthermosetting resin and/or an insulating thermoplastic resin. Asemi-cured hardening resin is particularly preferably used and asemi-cured thermosetting resin is more particularly preferably used. Theresin may contain a filler as described above. Thickness “t” of theinsulating layer 4015 may be, for example, in a range of about 50 μm to100 μm. An appropriate material for the insulating layer is as describedabove in connection with the first embodiment, and therefore, detailsthereof are omitted. Further, in a case where the insulating layer isformed of a composite material of a thermosetting resin and an inorganicfiller, a mixing ratio of the thermosetting resin and the inorganicfiller, and a preferable inorganic filler and a tendency of propertychanging by addition of the inorganic filler are as described above inconnection with the connector sheet of the first embodiment, andtherefore details thereof are omitted.

FIG. 52( d) shows a step of obtaining a sheet of the insulating layer4015 having the wiring layer 4030 by removing the carrier sheet 4050. Inthis illustrated method, a folding step is performed after removing thecarrier sheet. Alternatively, the folding step may be performed withoutremoving the carrier sheet and then the carrier sheet may be removed.

FIG. 53( a) shows a step of folding the sheet of the insulating layer4015. In this illustrated embodiment, the sheet is bent in half. Thatis, the insulating layer 4015 is folded such that parts thereof areopposed to and contact each other on a plane indicated by the dottedline 4011, and portions 4020A and 4020C of at least one wiring 4020constituting the wiring layer become an upper-surface wiring portion anda lower-surface wiring portion which face each other across theinsulating layer 4015, and another portion 4020B of the at least onewiring becomes a side-surface wiring portion which extends on a sidesurface of the folded insulating layer 4015. Therefore, the wiring 4020consisting of the upper-surface wiring portion 4020A, the lower-surfacewiring portion 4020C and the side-surface wiring portion 4020Bconstitutes at least one wiring which extends from the upper surface tothe lower surface of the insulating layer 4015 through the side surfaceof the insulating layer 4015, that is, a U/L-shaped side wiring.

FIG. 53( b) shows a step of heating and pressurizing the constructionshown in FIG. 53( a). After this step, overlapped parts of theinsulating layer become one rigid substrate 4010 and thereby interposer4100 is obtained. In FIG. 53( b), the contact plane 4011 of theinsulating layer is indicated by the dotted line; however, an overlappedplane may not exist distinctly after curing.

The interposer 4100 may be formed into another configuration dependingon a folding manner of the sheet of the insulating layer 4015. Forexample, the sheet may be folded together with the wiring layer at twopositions and then heated and pressurized as shown in FIG. 54( a). As aresult, produced is an interposer wherein U/L-shaped side wirings 4020exist on two side surfaces as shown in FIG. 54( b). Also in FIG. 54( b),a contact face of the insulating layer is indicated by the dotted line;however, the contact face may not exist distinctly after curing.

The interposer may be produced by a second production method. In thatcase, the rigid substrate 4010 is obtained by folding a sheet of theinsulating layer 4015 which does not have the wiring layer (morespecifically, a sheet containing a semi-cured resin) and then completelycuring the sheet, and then wiring layer 4030 is formed on the rigidsubstrate 4010 to provide the interposer 4100. A wiring pattern may beformed by, for example, bending a wiring pattern formed on a carriersheet along a surface of the rigid substrate so that the wiring patternclosely contacts the rigid substrate, and then transferring the wiringpattern to the rigid substrate.

Folding of the sheet may be performed so that a side surface is curvedin any production method. Such folding may be performed more easily thanfolding the sheet so that the side surface is flat.

The production method described with reference to FIGS. 51 to 54( b)does not need forming of a via penetrating the rigid substrate, andtherefore, a step of forming such via can be omitted in this productionmethod. An advantage resulting from this is as described in connectionwith the first embodiment and details thereof are omitted here.

At least a portion of the wiring 4020 on the side surface 4010 c of therigid substrate 4010 is embedded in the side surface 4010 c of the rigidsubstrate 4010 by forming the wiring 4020 through the steps shown inFIGS. 52( a) to 53(b). This is schematically shown in FIG. 55 which isan enlarged perspective view of a part of the rigid substrate. That is,as illustrated in FIG. 55, top surface 4020 f (exposed surface) ofU/L-shaped side wiring 4020 is substantially flush with a surface (forexample, side surface 4010 c) of the rigid substrate 4010. This effectgiven by this configuration (that is, suppression of breakage of theU/L-shaped side wirings and the like) is as described in connection withthe first embodiment.

Further, as shown in FIG. 55, when exposed surface 4020 f of theU/L-shaped side wiring 4020 is concave from the side surface 4010 c ofthe rigid substrate 4010 and thereby located inside the rigid substrate4010, a possibility of contact between the exposed surface 4020 f and anexternal thing is significantly reduced, whereby breakage and damage ofthe U/L-shaped side wiring 4020 can be effectively reduced. A cornerportion 4020 c of the U/L-shaped side wiring 4020 is particularlypreferably concave from the surface of the rigid substrate (or an edge)as shown in FIG. 55 from a viewpoint of protection of the wiring, sincethe corner portion 4020 c tends to contact the external thing.Therefore, exposed surfaces of the upper-surface wiring portion and/orthe lower-surface wiring portion of the U/L-shaped side wiring 4020 arepreferably disposed at positions which are sunken from surfaces of thesheet substrate, as shown in FIG. 55.

According to a method similar to the method described in connection withthe first embodiment, a step 4010 d may be formed by denting the topsurface 4020 f (or the exposed surface) of the U/L-shaped side wiring4020 from the side surface 4010 c of the rigid substrate 4010 as shownin FIG. 55.

In a case where the interposer is produced according to the secondproduction method, it is possible to apply a resin or a film, forprotecting the U/L-shaped side wiring 4020, to the rigid substrate 4010in order to dent the exposed surface 4020 f of the U/L-shaped sidewiring 4010 relative to the surface (for example, the side surface 4010c) of the rigid substrate 4010 or in order to make the exposed surface4010 f flush with the surface of the rigid substrate 4010.

In the interposer of the present invention, the U/L-shaped side wirings4020 may be a coplanar line. This makes it possible to constitute aninterposer which is suitable for high-speed signal wiring. Morespecifically, as shown in FIG. 57, when U/L-shaped side wirings 4020 sare formed as a signal line and U/L-shaped side wirings 4020 g areformed as ground lines on both side of the signal line, they form thecoplanar line. This makes it possible to control a characteristicimpedance and avoid a problem of impedance mismatch between a via andwiring, which problem occurs in an interposer with a via.

Embodiment 11

Next, a method for producing an interposer of a three-dimensionalconstruction is described. In this production method of the presentinvention, a rigid substrate is formed by folding a sheet containing asemi-cured resin, and therefore, an upper surface or a lower surface ofthe rigid substrate may be formed into a shape having a concave portionor a convex portion.

FIGS. 58( a) to 58(e) show steps included in a production method of aninterposer having the concave portion. Firstly, as shown in FIG. 58( a),a sheet 4015 wherein a wiring layer 4030 is formed (that is, a sheetcontaining a semi-cured resin) is prepared. Next, as shown in FIGS. 58(b) and 58(c), the sheet 4015 is bent into a shape having a concaveportion. Thereafter, the sheet 4015 is heated and pressurized, resultingin an interposer 4100 of a three-dimensional shape (here, a “U”-shape)as shown in FIG. 58( d).

The interposer 4100 shown in FIG. 58( d) may become an interposer whichcan be mounted three-dimensionally as shown in FIG. 58( e). Morespecifically, a lower surface of the interposer 4100 is connected to aprinted board 4060 and chip parts 4062 mounted to the printed board 4060are disposed between the interposer 4100 and the printed board 4060. Onan upper surface of the interposer 4100, an electronic component 4064(such as a semiconductor chip) is mounted. That is, the electroniccomponent 4064 and the chip parts 4062 can be mountedthree-dimensionally in the same area viewed from above. As a result,more electronic components may be mounted even if a mounting area issmall.

In light of an essential function of the interposer, a semiconductorchip having a fine pitch or a high pin count may be preferably disposedon at least one surface (for example, the upper surface) of theinterposer 4100. For example, a semiconductor chip wherein a pitch ofterminals is at most 150 μm, or a semiconductor chip having at leastsixteen terminals may be preferably disposed. A mount assemblyconstituted by such a semiconductor chip and the interposer 4100 canreduce a load to a printed board (a parent board) since a terminal gapin the terminal pitch is broadened by the interposer 4100. On theinterposer 4100, a surface mount device (such as a chip device; forexample, a chip inductor, a chip resistor, or a chip capacitor) may bemounted instead of the semiconductor device. Alternatively, both of asemiconductor chip and the surface mount device may be mounted on theinterposer 4100

The interposer 4100 may be formed into any of shapes shown in FIGS. 59(a) to 59(c). Each of these shapes can be obtained by folding a sheetcontaining semi-cured resin so that an overlapped plane is made asindicated by dotted line 4011.

Further, the interposer of the present invention may be fabricated sothat it has a shield layer in a rigid substrate. More specifically, theshield layer may be easily formed by folding a sheet as shown in FIGS.60( a) and 60(b). Firstly, a left side of an insulating layer of a sheet4015 similar to the sheet shown in FIG. 52( d) is folded together with awiring disposed under the insulating layer, so that portions 4015 a and4015 b of the insulating layer are opposed to each other as shown inFIG. 60( a), and portions 4030D and 4030E of bent wiring are opposed toeach other across opposed portions 4015 a and 4015 b of the insulatinglayer, while a remaining portion 4030F of wiring extends on a sidesurface of the opposed portions 4015 a and 4015 b of the insulatinglayer.

Next, as shown in FIG. 60( b), the right side portion 4015 c of theinsulating layer is bent together with the wiring which is positionedunder the portion 4015 c, so that the portion 4015 c is placed on thewiring portion 4030D and the portions 4015 a, 4015 b and 4015 c areopposed to each other so as to form the U/L-shaped side wiring 4020, andthereby the wiring portion 4030D which has been bent is interposed inthe insulating layer and becomes the shield member 4035. In this case,the shield member 4035 is made of the same material as that of theU/L-shaped side wiring 4020.

Embodiment 12

Referring to FIGS. 61 to 66, various embodiments of interposers of thepresent invention are described as a twelfth embodiment. FIG. 61 showsan interposer 4100 of a “U”-shape. This interposer has inner surfaces4010 e and 4010 f which are opposed to an upper surface 4010 a and alower surface 4010 b, respectively, so that components can be mounted onthe inner surfaces 4010 e and 4010 f. A U/L-shaped side wiring (notshown) is formed on a side surface 4010 c of rigid substrate 4010. TheU/L-shaped side wiring may be formed on a side surface 4010 g whichconnects the upper surface 4010 a and the inner surface 4010 e, and on aside surface 4010 h which connects the lower surface 4010 b and theinner surface 4010 f. In that case, upper- and lower-surface wiringportions of the U/L-shaped side wiring formed on the side surface 4010 gare disposed on the surfaces 4010 a and 4010 e, and upper- andlower-surface wiring portions of the U/L-shaped side wiring formed onthe side surface 4010 h are disposed on the surfaces 4010 b and 4010 g.As shown in FIG. 61, the side surface 4010 c is mounted on printed board4060 so as to make a connection between electronic components 4066mounted on the upper surface 4010 a, the lower surface 4010 b and theinner surface 4010 c and the printed board. In FIG. 61, each electroniccomponent is mounted vertically. A mount assembly shown in FIG. 61 hasan advantage in that heat can be effectively diffused from theelectronic components 4066.

FIG. 62 is an example of an interposer which has a curved shape. In FIG.62, reference numeral 4066 denotes an electronic component, andU/L-shaped side wiring is not shown. This interposer can be used in anantenna or an LED lighting.

In the interposer described above, the U/L-shaped side wiring is aU-shaped side wiring which extends on three surfaces, that is, a sidesurface, an upper surface and a lower surface of a rigid substrate. Inanother preferred embodiment, the U/L-shaped side wiring does not extendon at least one of the upper surface and the lower surface. In otherwords, the U/L-shaped side wiring may be an L-shaped side wiring whichextends on a side surface and either the upper surface or the lowersurface of the rigid substrate. Also, the L-shaped side wiring may beflush with a surface of the rigid substrate or may be protruded from thesurface of the rigid substrate. Alternatively, the L-shaped side wiringexists at a position which is concave from the side surface and theupper (or the lower) surface of the rigid substrate. Such an L-shapedside wiring is shown in FIG. 63.

In interposer 4100′ shown in FIG. 63, one end portion 4020 b ofU/L-shaped side wiring 4020 is located at a bottom end (that is, aboundary portion between the side surface 4010 c and lower surface 4010b (or a corner portion)). The U/L-shaped side wiring 4020 does notextend on the lower surface 4010 b. In this case, terminals for beingconnected with a printed board may not be provided on the lower surface.

FIG. 64 schematically shows an embodiment of mounting the interposer4100′ shown in FIG. 63 on a printed board 4060. A solder connectionportion 4070 is formed on the end portion 4020 b of the U/L-shaped sidewiring 4020 (see FIG. 63) so as to electrically connect the interposer4100′ with a wiring pattern 4061 of the printed board 4060. In theinterposer 4100′ shown in FIG. 64, the U/L-shaped side wiring defines arecess whose depth from the side surface of the rigid substratecorresponds to a step 4010 d, whereby a groove portion is formed in theside surface 4010 c. This groove portion is advantageous because itserves as a guide as well as a dam for storing solder. Further, whensoldering shown in FIG. 64 is employed as a mounting method, soldersticking can be easily checked by observing the printed board 4060 fromabove (for example, in a vertical direction). The interposer 4100′wherein the U/L-shaped side wiring 4020 terminates on the side surfacefacilitates an examination of a solder connection portion aftersoldering.

FIG. 65 shows an interposer 4100″ wherein U/L-shaped side wiring 4020 isof an L-shape and exposed surface 4020 f, that is a top surface of theU/L-shaped side wiring 4020, is coplanar with side surface 4010 c ofrigid substrate 4010. Also, when there is no step 4010 d (or when thetop surface 4020 f of the U/L-shaped side wiring 4020 protrudes from theside surface 4010 c), solder connection portion 4070 can be provided atan end portion of the U/L-shaped side wiring 4020 so as to connect theinterposer 4100″ and wiring pattern 4061 of a printed board 4060 bysoldering. Also in this case, a solder connection portion can be easilyexamined.

From a viewpoint of solder connection, end portions 4020 b of U/L-shapedside wirings 4020 are preferably spaced with a constant interval on theside surface 4010 c of the rigid substrate 4010 of the interposer 4100′or 4100″ shown in any of FIGS. 63 to 65. In this case, not only the endportions, but also side-surface wiring portions of the U/L-shaped sidewirings may be arranged with a constant interval on the side surface ofthe rigid substrate.

The interposer of any embodiment described above can be mounted as shownin FIG. 66 since the U/L-shaped side wiring 4020 extends on the sidesurface 4010 c of the rigid substrate 4010. For example, a mountassembly including the interposer 4100 as illustrated in FIG. 41 andelectronic components 4066 (such as chip parts or semiconductor chips)mounted thereon may be fitted into a connector (mechanical connector)4080 which is disposed on a printed board 4060 (a mother board). In thiscase, a mount assembly and the printed board 4060 are electricallyconnected via the connector 4080 since the side-surface wiring portionof the U/L-shaped side wiring 4020 in the interposer 4100 and theconnector 4080 are electrically and physically connected. The connector4080 is constructed such that the side surface 4010 c of the interposer4100 is fitted thereonto. The connector 4080 makes it possible to mountelectronic component 4066 vertically, whereby many components can bemounted in an electronic device whose mounting area is small. AlthoughFIG. 66 shows the interposer shown in FIG. 41, vertical mounting may beapplicable to any connection member as described above.

Electronic devices with small mounting areas include portable electronicdevice such as a cellular phone and a PDA. That is, an assembly whichincludes the electronic components 4066, the interposer 4100, theconnector 4080 and the printed board 4060 facilitates vertical mountingof electronic components. The electronic component 4066 may be mountedalso on the lower surface 4010 b of the rigid substrate 4010 of theinterposer 4100 depending on a wiring pattern of the interposer 4100.

Although the embodiments of the present invention are described withreference to the drawings, it should be noted the present invention isnot limited to the embodiments and various changes and modifications maybe made in the invention without departing from the spirit and the scopeof the present invention.

The present invention provides a connection member which can be producedrelatively efficiently, and it can be preferably used as, for example, aconnector sheet, a connection member with a core, and an interposer, inorder to electrically connect a circuit board to another circuit boardor connect a circuit board to an electronic component. Therefore, theconnection member of the present invention can be preferably used invarious electronic devices, particularly a portable electronic devicesuch as a cellular phone.

As described in the above, the present invention provides, as a firstmode, a connection member which includes:

an insulating substrate which has an upper surface and a lower surfacewhich is opposite to the upper surface, and a side surface whichconnects the upper and the lower surfaces; and

at least one wiring which includes i) a side-surface wiring portionwhich is disposed on at least a part of the side surface and ii) atleast one of an upper-surface wiring portion and a lower-surface wiringportion, with the upper-surface wiring portion being connected to theside-surface wiring portion and disposed on at least a part of the uppersurface, and the lower-surface wiring portion being connected to theside-surface wiring portion and disposed on at least a part of the lowersurface (this wiring is referred to as a “particular wiring”hereinafter).

The present invention provides, as a second mode, the connection memberaccording to the first mode wherein electrical conduction between theupper surface and the lower surface is made by the particular wiring.

The present invention provides, as a third mode, the connection memberaccording to the first mode, wherein the particular wiring electricallyconnects an electrical element on the upper surface and an electricalelement on the lower surface.

The present invention provides, as a fourth mode, the connection memberaccording to the first mode wherein at least one end portion of theparticular wiring is electrically connected to an electrical element,and the particular wiring and the electrical element are formedtogether.

The present invention provides, as a fifth mode, the connection memberaccording to the third mode wherein the electrical element(s) is one ormore elements selected from a group consisting of a wiring pattern, aland, a pad, a terminal, a solder ball and a bump.

The present invention provides, as a sixth mode, the connection memberaccording to the second mode, wherein no vias are formed in theinsulating substrate.

The present invention provides, as a seventh mode, the connection memberaccording to the first mode wherein a ratio of a length of the sidesurface of the insulating substrate to a width of the side-surfacewiring portion of the particular wiring is at least one.

The present invention provides, as an eighth mode, the connection memberaccording to the first mode which includes at least two particularwirings,

wherein a narrowest pitch of side-surface wiring portions of theparticular wirings is at most 0.4 mm.

The present invention provides, as a ninth mode, the connection memberaccording to the first mode, wherein the insulating substrate is formedof a material containing a resin.

The present invention provides, as a tenth mode, the connection memberaccording to the first mode, wherein the insulating substrate is formedof a composite material containing a resin and an inorganic filler.

The present invention provides, as a eleventh mode, the connectionmember according to the tenth mode, wherein the resin is at least one ofa thermosetting resin and a thermoplastic resin.

The present invention provides, as a twelfth mode, the connection memberaccording to the first mode, wherein at least a part of the side-surfacewiring portion of the particular wiring is embedded in the side surfaceof the insulating substrate.

The present invention provides, as a thirteenth mode, the connectionmember according to the twelfth mode, wherein a top surface of theside-surface portion of the particular wiring is disposed at an interiorposition of the insulating substrate relative to the side surface of theinsulating substrate.

The present invention provides, as a fourteenth mode, the connectionmember according to the twelfth mode, wherein a portion of theparticular wiring which is placed at a corner of the insulatingsubstrate is disposed at an interior position of the insulatingsubstrate relative to a surface of the insulating substrate whichsurface defines the corner.

The present invention provides, as a fifteenth mode, the connectionmember according to the first mode, wherein a plurality of particularwirings define a coplanar line.

The present invention provides, as a sixteenth mode, the connectionmember according to the first mode which is formed by bending a sheetcontaining a semi-cured resin and then curing this bent sheet.

The present invention provides, as a seventeenth mode, the connectionmember according to the sixteenth mode, wherein the sheet includes awiring pattern that has, as a part, a wiring which is to constitute theparticular wiring of the connection member.

The present invention provides, as a eighteenth mode, the connectionmember according to the first mode, wherein the upper surface of theinsulating substrate has an approximate rectangular shape consisting oflong sides and narrow sides shorter than the long sides.

The present invention provides, as a nineteenth mode, the connectionmember according to the eighteenth mode, wherein the particular wiringis arranged so that the side-surface wiring portion is disposed on onlya side surface adjacent a long side.

The present invention provides, as a twentieth mode, the connectionmember according to the first mode, wherein the upper surface of theinsulating substrate has an L-shape, a U-shape, or a rectangular frameshape.

The present invention provides, as a twenty-first mode, the connectionmember according to the first mode, wherein at least one of the uppersurface and the lower surface of the insulating substrate has at leastone of a concave portion and a convex portion.

The present invention provides, as a twenty-second mode, the connectionmember according to the first mode, wherein the insulating substrate isa sheet substrate.

The present invention provides, as a twenty-third mode, the connectionmember according to the twenty-second mode, wherein the upper surface ofthe sheet substrate is flat and at least eight particular wirings areprovided.

The present invention provides, as a twenty-fourth mode, the connectionmember according to the twenty-second mode, wherein at least one of theupper surface and the lower surface of the sheet substrate has at leastone of a concave portion and a convex portion, and at least one of theupper-surface portion and the lower-surface portion of the particularwiring further extends on at least one of an inner side surface of theconcave portion and a protruded side surface of the convex portion.

The present invention provides, as a twenty-fifth mode, the connectionmember according to the twenty-second mode, wherein the upper surfaceand the lower surface of the sheet substrate have tackiness under afirst condition, and adhesiveness under a second condition that isdifferent from the first condition and is a condition under which ahardening reaction of a material constituting the upper surface and thelower surface proceeds.

The present invention provides, as a twenty-sixth mode, the connectionmember according to the twenty-fifth mode, wherein the materialconstituting the upper surface and the lower surface is selected from agroup consisting of a mixture of a silicone resin and a thermosettingresin, a mixture of a thermoplastic resin and a thermosetting resin, anda mixture of a UV-curing resin and a thermosetting resin.

The present invention provides, as a twenty-seventh mode, the connectionmember according to the twenty-sixth mode, wherein the first conditionis a temperature condition in a range of 0° C. to 80° C.

The present invention provides, as a twenty-eighth mode, the connectionmember according to the twenty-sixth mode, wherein the second conditionis a temperature condition under which a post-curing reaction of thethermosetting resin proceeds.

The present invention provides, as a twenty-ninth mode, the connectionmember according to the first mode, wherein the insulating substrateincludes:

-   -   (1) a core member; and    -   (2) an electrically insulating layer which covers at least a        part of the core member, and has an upper-surface portion which        is disposed on at least a part of an upper surface of the core        member, a lower-surface portion which is disposed on at least a        part of a lower surface of the core member which is opposite to        the upper surface of the core member, and a side-surface portion        which is disposed on at least a part of a side surface of the        core member and connects the upper-surface portion and the        lower-surface portion, and

the upper-surface wiring portion of the particular wiring is disposed onat least a part of the upper-surface portion of the electricallyinsulating layer, the lower-surface wiring portion of the particularwiring is disposed on at least a part of the lower-surface portion ofthe electrically insulating layer, and the side-surface wiring portionof the particular wiring is disposed on at least a part of theside-surface portion of the electrically insulating layer.

The present invention provides, as a thirtieth mode, the connectionmember according to the twenty-ninth mode which does not have a viapenetrating the electrically insulating layer.

The present invention provides, as a thirty-first mode, the connectionmember according to the twenty-ninth mode wherein the electricallyinsulating layer is formed of only a resin or a material containing aresin and a filler.

The present invention provides, as a thirty-second mode, the connectionmember according to the thirty-first mode wherein the resin is at leastone of a thermosetting resin and a thermoplastic resin.

The present invention provides, as a thirty-third mode, the connectionmember according to the twenty-ninth mode wherein the electricallyinsulating layer and the core member have flexibility.

The present invention provides, as a thirty-fourth mode, the connectionmember according to the twenty-ninth mode wherein the core member isformed of a metal.

The present invention provides, as a thirty-fifth mode, the connectionmember according to the thirty-fourth mode wherein at least a part of asurface of the core member which contacts the electrically insulatinglayer is roughened.

The present invention provides, as a thirty-sixth mode, the connectionmember according to the twenty-ninth mode wherein at least one of cornerportions of the core member is chamfered.

The present invention provides, as a thirty-seventh mode, the connectionmember according to the twenty-ninth mode wherein a part of the coremember is exposed.

The present invention provides, as a thirty-eighth mode, the connectionmember according to the twenty-ninth mode wherein the side-surfaceportion of the electrically insulating layer is curved.

The present invention provides, as a thirty-ninth mode, the connectionmember according to the first mode wherein the insulating substrate is aplate substrate.

The present invention provides, as a fortieth mode, the connectionmember according to the thirty-ninth mode wherein at most five hundredparticular wirings are provided.

The present invention provides, as a forty-first mode, the connectionmember according to the thirty-ninth mode wherein one end portion of theparticular wiring is disposed in a peripheral region of the uppersurface of the plate substrate.

The present invention provides, as a forty-second mode, the connectionmember according to the thirty-ninth mode wherein one end portion of theparticular wiring is arranged in a grid on a lower surface of the platesubstrate.

The present invention provides, as a forty-third mode, the connectionmember according to the thirty-ninth mode wherein an area of the uppersurface of the plate substrate is at most 200 mm², and at least sixteenparticular wirings are provided.

The present invention provides, as a forty-fourth mode, the connectionmember according to the thirty-ninth mode wherein the upper surface ofthe plate substrate has an approximate rectangular shape consisting oflong sides and narrow sides shorter than the long sides, and a length ofthe long sides is at most three times a length of the narrow sides.

The present invention provides, as a forty-fifth mode, the connectionmember according to the thirty-ninth mode wherein the upper surface ofthe plate substrate has an approximate rectangular shape consisting oflong sides and narrow sides shorter than the long sides, and a length ofthe long sides is at least ten times a length of the narrow sides.

The present invention provides, as a forty-sixth mode, the connectionmember according to the thirty ninth mode wherein a width of theside-surface wiring portion of the particular wiring is at most 0.25 mm,and a space between the side-surface wiring portions of the particularwirings is at most 0.3 mm.

The present invention provides, as a forty-seventh mode, the connectionmember according to the thirty-ninth mode which has a shield layerwithin the plate substrate.

The present invention provides, as a forty-eighth mode, the connectionmember according to the thirty-ninth mode wherein the plate substrate isan approximate hexahedron in which the upper surface and the lowersurface each have an approximately rectangular shape.

The present invention provides, as a forty-ninth mode, the connectionmember according to the forty-eighth mode wherein a plurality of theparticular wirings are arranged so that the side-surface wiring portionsare disposed on all of four side surfaces of the approximate hexahedron.

The present invention provides, as a fiftieth mode, the connectionmember according to the thirty-ninth mode wherein the plate substratehas an opening in its center and has a rectangular frame shape, and theside-surface wiring portion of the particular wiring is disposed on aside surface which defines the opening, and a shield layer is providedon an outer circumferential surface of the plate substrate.

The present invention provides, as a fifty-first mode, the connectionmember according to the thirty-ninth mode wherein the plate substratehas a U-shape or a C-shape.

The present invention provides, as a fifty-second mode, the connectionmember according to the thirty-ninth mode wherein the particular wiringhas only the upper-surface wiring portion and the side-surface wiringportion.

The present invention provides, as a fifty-third mode, the connectionmember according to the fifty-second mode wherein an end portion of theside-surface wiring portion of the particular wiring is disposed on aboundary portion between the side surface and the lower surface of theplate substrate.

The present invention provides, as a fifty-fourth mode, the connectionmember according to the fifty-second mode wherein end portions of theside-surface wiring portions of the particular wirings are disposed witha constant interval on the side surface of the plate substrate.

The present invention provides, as a fifty-fifth mode, the connectionmember according to the fifty-second mode wherein a guide groove whichleads to the particular wiring is formed on a part of the side surfaceof the plate substrate.

The present invention provides, as a fifty-sixth mode, a mount assemblywhich includes at least one connection member according to the firstmode and at least two circuit boards, wherein the connection member isdisposed between the circuit boards.

The present invention provides, as a fifty-seventh mode, the mountassembly according to the fifty-sixth mode, wherein one circuit board isconnected to the connection member by a mounting method different from amounting method by which the other circuit board is connected to theconnection member.

The present invention provides, as a fifty-eighth mode, a mount assemblyaccording to the fifty sixth-mode which includes:

a first circuit board having a wiring pattern on a side surface; and

a second circuit board having a wiring pattern on a side surface;

wherein the wiring pattern formed on the side surface of the firstcircuit board is connected to a side-surface wiring portion on one sidesurface of the connection member, and the wiring pattern formed on theside surface of the second circuit board is connected to a side-surfacewiring portion on another side surface of the connection member, wherebythe first and the second circuit boards are electrically connected.

The present invention provides, as a fifty-ninth mode, the mountassembly according to the fifty-sixth mode wherein:

an exposed surface of the particular wiring formed in the connectionmember is concave from a surface of the connection member;

a wiring pattern formed on the circuit board has a portion protrudedfrom a surface of the circuit board; and

the concave exposed surface of the particular wiring of the connectionmember and the protruded wiring portion of the circuit board contacteach other by a fitting operation.

The present invention provides, as a sixtieth mode, a component mountassembly which includes the connection member according to the firstmode and an electronic component disposed on at least one of the uppersurface and the lower surface of the connection member,

wherein the electronic component is electrically connected to theparticular wiring or an electrical element electrically connected to theparticular wiring of the connection member.

The present invention provides, as a sixty-first mode, the componentmount assembly according to the sixtieth mode wherein the electroniccomponent is a first electronic component, another connection memberaccording to the first mode is disposed on the first electroniccomponent, and a second electronic component is disposed on an uppersurface of the another connection member.

The present invention provides, as a sixty-second mode, the componentmount assembly according to the sixty-first mode wherein the firstelectronic component is one of a semiconductor memory and an LSI, andthe second electronic component is one of a semiconductor memory and anLSI.

The present invention provides, as a sixty-third mode, a mount assembly,which includes a first connection member which is the connection memberaccording to the twenty-ninth mode and a second connection member whichis another connection member,

wherein the second connection member is disposed on at least one of theupper surface and the lower surface of the first connection member andis electrically connected to the particular wiring or an electricalelement connected to the particular wiring of the first connectionmember.

The present invention provides, as a sixty-fourth mode, a mount assemblywhich includes:

a circuit board wherein wiring patterns are formed on both surfaces; and

a connection member according to the twenty-second mode, in which aconcave portion is formed by bending a sheet containing a semi-curedresin and the particular wiring has a portion extending on an inner sidesurface of the concave portion,

wherein the side surface of the circuit board fits in the concaveportion; and

the wiring pattern formed on one surface of the circuit board iselectrically connected with the wiring pattern formed on the othersurface of the circuit board via the wiring portion extending on theinner side surface of the concave portion.

The present invention provides, as a sixty-fifth mode, the mountassembly according to the sixty-fourth mode, wherein a via is not formedin the circuit board.

The present invention provides, as a sixty-sixth mode, an electronicdevice which includes the mount assembly according to the sixtieth modeand a casing for housing the mount assembly.

The present invention provides, as a sixty-seventh mode, a method forproducing the connection member according to the first mode, whichincludes forming the particular wiring by bending a wiring layer thathas at least one wiring formed in one plane.

The present invention provides, as a sixty-eighth mode, the methodaccording to the sixty-seventh mode which includes:

(1-A) preparing a sheet which includes a wiring layer having at leastone wiring, with the sheet having an insulating layer containing asemi-cured resin;

(1-B) bending the sheet so that parts of the insulating layer face eachother and portions of the at least one wiring face each other across theinsulating layer, and another portion of the at least one wiring extendson a side surface of the insulating layer which is formed by a bent partof the insulating layer; and

(1-C) curing the resin contained in the insulating layer of this bentsheet.

The present invention provides, as a sixty-ninth mode, the methodaccording to the sixty-eighth mode wherein the insulating layer isformed of a composite material containing a thermosetting resin and aninorganic filler.

The present invention provides, as a seventieth mode, the methodaccording to the sixty-ninth mode wherein the composite materialcontains at least 100 parts by weight of an inorganic filler relative to100 parts by weight of a thermosetting resin.

The present invention provides, as a seventy-first mode, the methodaccording to the seventieth mode wherein step (1-A) includes steps of:

(1-a) preparing a laminate which includes a carrier sheet and a metallayer formed thereon;

(1-b) processing the metal layer so as to form a wiring layer having atleast one wiring; and

(1-c) forming an insulating layer containing a semi-cured resin on thewiring pattern.

The present invention provides, as a seventy-second mode, the methodaccording to the seventy-first mode, wherein, in step (1-b), the wiringlayer is formed by etching the metal layer such that, in addition to anunnecessary portion of the metal layer, a portion of the carrier sheetwhich is beneath the unnecessary portion of the metal layer is removed.

The present invention provides, as a seventy-third mode, the methodaccording to the sixty-eighth mode, wherein, in step (1-B), the sheet isbent so that it has an approximate hexahedral shape.

The present invention provides, as a seventy-fourth mode, the methodaccording to the sixty-eighth mode, wherein, in the step (1-B), thesheet is bent so that a plate substrate having at least one of a concaveportion and a convex portion is formed.

The present invention provides, as a seventy-fifth mode, the methodaccording to the sixty-seventh mode which includes:

(2-A) preparing a sheet containing a semi-cured resin;

(2-B) bending the sheet;

(2-C) forming an insulating substrate by curing the sheet after step(2-B); and

(2-D) forming on the insulating substrate at least one wiring whichincludes i) a side-surface wiring portion which is disposed on at leasta part of a side surface and ii) at least one of an upper-surface wiringportion and a lower-surface wiring portion, with the upper-surfacewiring portion being connected to the side-surface wiring portion anddisposed on at least a part of an upper surface, and the lower-surfacewiring portion being connected to the side-surface wiring portion anddisposed on at least a part of a lower surface.

The present invention provides, as a seventy-sixth mode, the methodaccording to the sixty-seventh mode which includes steps of:

(3-A) forming a wiring layer including at least one wiring on at least apart of a surface of a carrier sheet;

(3-B) forming on the surface of the carrier sheet a resin layercontaining a hardening resin so as to cover the wiring layer with theresin layer;

(3-C) disposing a core member on the resin layer and bending the carriersheet with the resin layer in contact with the core member so thatportions of the at least one wiring face each other across the resinlayer, and the core member and another portion of the at least onewiring extends on a side surface of the resin layer which is formed by abent part of the resin layer; and

(3-D) curing the resin contained in the resin layer so as to form theinsulating layer; and

(3-E) removing the carrier sheet so as to expose the wiring layer.

The present invention provides, as a seventy-seventh mode, the methodaccording to the sixty-seventh mode which includes steps of:

(4-A) forming a wiring layer including at least one wiring on at least apart of a surface of a carrier sheet;

(4-B) forming a resin layer containing a hardening resin on a surface ofa core member so as to cover at least a part of the surface of a coremember;

(4-C) bending the carrier sheet around the core member with the resinlayer in contact with the wiring layer so that portions of the at leastone wiring face each other across the resin layer and the core memberand another portion of the at least one wiring extends on a side surfaceof the resin layer;

(4-D) curing the resin contained in the resin layer so as to form theinsulating layer; and

(4-E) removing the carrier sheet so as to expose the wiring layer.

The present invention provides, as a seventy-eighth mode, the methodaccording to the sixty-seventh mode which includes steps of:

(5-A) forming a wiring layer including at least one wiring on at least apart of a surface of a carrier sheet;

(5-B) bending the carrier sheet with the wiring layer inside so thatportions of the at least one wiring face each other and a space isformed between these opposed portions;

(5-C) forming a resin layer by introducing a material containing ahardening resin into the space;

(5-D) curing the resin contained in the resin layer so as to form theinsulating layer; and

(5-E) removing the carrier sheet so as to expose the wiring layer.

The present invention provides, as a seventy-ninth mode, the methodaccording to the seventy-eighth mode wherein step (5-C) is performed asa process including steps of:

(5-c′) introducing a material containing a hardening resin into thespace; and

(5-c″) inserting a core member into the material introduced into thespace.

The present invention provides, as an eightieth mode, a method forproducing a mount assembly which includes steps of:

connecting wirings on two circuit boards with a wiring layer of a sheetwhich includes an insulating layer containing a semi-cured resin, withthe wiring layer having at least one wiring;

bending the sheet so that parts of the insulating layer face each otherand portions of the at least one wiring face each other across theinsulating layer, and another portion of the at least one wiring extendson a side surface of the insulating layer which is formed by a bent partof the insulating layer; and

curing the resin contained in the insulating layer of this bent sheet.

The present invention provides, as an eighty-first mode, a method forproducing the mount assembly according to the sixty-fourth mode whichincludes steps of:

preparing a sheet which includes a wiring layer having at least onewiring and an insulating layer containing a semi-cured resin;

bending the sheet so that the insulating layer forms a concave portion,with parts of the insulating layer facing each other and portions of theat least one wiring facing each other across the insulating layer, withanother portion of the at least one wiring extending on a side surfaceof the insulating layer which is formed by a bent part of the insulatinglayer, and with still another portion of the at least one wiringextending on an inner side surface of the concave portion;

closely fitting a side surface of a circuit board, wherein wiringpatterns are formed on both of an upper surface and lower surfacethereof, into the concave portion; and

curing the resin contained in the insulating layer of this bent sheet.

1. A connection member comprising: a rigid insulating substrate havingan upper surface, a lower surface opposite said upper surface, and aside surface interconnecting said upper and lower surfaces; and at leastone wiring including (i) a side-surface wiring portion disposed on atleast a part of said side surface so that a top surface of saidside-surface wiring portion is exposed, and (ii) at least one of (a) anupper-surface wiring portion disposed on at least a part of said uppersurface so that a top surface of said upper-surface wiring portion isexposed, said upper-surface wiring portion being connected to saidside-surface wiring portion, and (b) a lower-surface wiring portiondisposed on at least a part of said lower surface so that a top surfaceof said lower-surface wiring portion is exposed, said lower-surfacewiring portion being connected to said side-surface wiring portion,wherein a combination of said side-surface wiring portion and said atleast one of said upper-surface wiring portion and said lower-surfacewiring portion define a single top surface-exposed continuous wiring. 2.The connection member according to claim 1, wherein no vias are formedin said rigid insulating substrate.
 3. The connection member accordingto claim 1, wherein said rigid insulating substrate is formed from amaterial containing a resin.
 4. The connection member according to claim1, wherein said side-surface wiring portion is disposed on at least apart of said side surface by having at least a part of said side-surfacewiring portion be embedded in said rigid insulating substrate.
 5. Theconnection member according to claim 1, wherein a top surface of saidside-surface wiring portion is positioned inwardly of said side surface.6. The connection member according to claim 1, wherein said rigidinsulating substrate and said at least one wiring are formed by bendinga sheet, containing a semi-cured resin and having wiring thereon, andthen curing the semi-cured resin.
 7. The connection member according toclaim 1, wherein said upper surface has an L-shape, a U-shape, or arectangular frame shape.
 8. The connection member according to claim 1,wherein at least one of said upper surface and said lower surface has atleast one of a concave portion and a convex portion.
 9. The connectionmember according to claim 1, wherein said rigid insulating substratecomprises a sheet substrate.
 10. The connection member according toclaim 9, wherein at least one of said upper surface and said lowersurface has at least one of a concave portion and a convex portion, anda respective one of said at least one of said upper-surface wiringportion and said lower-surface wiring portion extends on at least one ofan inner side surface of said concave portion and a protruded sidesurface of said convex portion.
 11. The connection member according toclaim 1, wherein said side-surface wiring portion is disposed directlyon said at least a part of said side surface, and at least one of a)said upper-surface wiring portion is disposed directly on said at leasta part of said upper surface, and b) said lower-surface wiring portionis disposed directly on said at least a part of said lower surface. 12.The connection member according to claim 1, wherein said insulatingsubstrate comprises a plate substrate.
 13. The connection memberaccording to claim 1, wherein said rigid insulating substrate comprises:(i) a core member; and (ii) an electrically insulating layer covering atleast a part of said core member and having an upper-surface portion onat least a part of an upper surface of said core member, a lower-surfaceportion on at least a part of a lower surface of said core member, and aside-surface portion on at least a part of a side surface of said coremember, with said lower surface of said core member being opposite tosaid upper surface of said core member, and with said side-surfaceportion interconnecting said upper-surface portion and saidlower-surface portion, and said upper-surface wiring portion is on atleast a part of said upper-surface portion, said lower-surface wiringportion is on at least a part of said lower-surface portion, and saidside-surface wiring portion is on at least a part of said side-surfaceportion.
 14. The connection member according to claim 13, wherein atleast one corner portion of said core member is chamfered.
 15. Theconnection member according to claim 13, wherein said side-surfaceportion is curved.
 16. A mount assembly comprising: a first connectionmember according to claim 13; and a second connection member, whereinsaid second connection member is on at least one of an upper surface anda lower surface of said first connection member and is electricallyconnected to said at least one wiring, or is electrically connected toan electrical element that is connected to said at least one wiring. 17.A mount assembly comprising: at least one connection member according toclaim 1; and at least two circuit boards, wherein said at least oneconnection member is disposed between said at least two circuit boards.18. The mount assembly according to claim 17, wherein one of said atleast two circuit boards is connected to said at least one connectionmember by a mounting method that is different from a mounting method bywhich another of said at least two circuit boards is connected to saidat least one connection member.
 19. A component mount assemblycomprising: a connection member according to claim 1; and an electroniccomponent disposed on at least one of an upper surface and a lowersurface of said connection member, wherein said electronic component iselectrically connected to said at least one wiring, or is electricallyconnected to an electrical element that is electrically connected tosaid at least one wiring.
 20. The component mount assembly according toclaim 19, further comprising: another connection member according toclaim 1 on said electronic component; and another electronic componenton an upper surface of said another connection member.
 21. Theconnection member according to claim 1, wherein said at least one wiringcomprises a copper foil having a thickness within a range of from 3 μmto 50 μm.
 22. A connection member comprising: an insulating sheetsubstrate having an upper surface, a lower surface opposite said uppersurface, and a side surface interconnecting said upper and lowersurfaces; and at least one wiring including (i) a side-surface wiringportion disposed on at least a part of said side surface, and (ii) atleast one of (a) an upper-surface wiring portion disposed on at least apart of said upper surface and connected to said side-surface wiringportion, and (b) a lower-surface wiring portion disposed on at least apart of said lower surface and connected to said side-surface wiringportion, wherein said upper surface and said lower surface each exhibittackiness under a first condition and adhesiveness under a secondcondition that is different from the first condition, with the secondcondition being a condition under which proceeds a hardening reaction ofa material constituting said upper surface and said lower surface. 23.The connection member according to claim 22, wherein said materialconstituting said upper surface and said lower surface is selected fromthe group consisting of a mixture of a silicone resin and athermosetting resin, a mixture of a thermoplastic resin and athermosetting resin, and a mixture of a UV-curing resin and athermosetting resin.